


Battle for the Key

by EvilLittleImp



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Battle, Character Death, F/M, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:02:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 21,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25865593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilLittleImp/pseuds/EvilLittleImp
Summary: An adventure through a fake world made real. Follow our heroes as they seek the truth behind strange attacks that have been happening. Is it random, or is there someone behind them?





	1. Christmas Time

“Jason!” called Esau, “I think I found a place to hide.” It was a sunny cloudless day in Minecraft, yet Jason and Esau were running from a mob of stinking, decaying, smelly zombies. The wind blew through the trees as they ran making a rattling sound.  
“Let’s get back to the village before the sun sets,” suggested Esau. They carefully sneaked away from their hiding spot. They ran into the village just as the sun sank behind the hills and mountains destined to rise again the next day.  
“Look,” said Jason.  
“Yes, finally, it’s time for the village to get ready for Christmas,” exclaimed Esau, “There will be an ice skating competition and archery games and mazes, so many things to do. At the end of it all, there will be a tree lighting festival.”  
“Oh, hey look it’s Eve,” pointed Jason as a brown haired girl in jeans and a purple T-shirt walked by.  
“Who’s Eve?” asked Esau. “She is a really good skater, and a friend of mine,” clarified Jason. “Only a friend?” inquired Esau with a smirk. “Very funny, but I’m not the one who has a crush on her,” replied Jason.  
Several days passed as the festival got nearer. Finally it was time for tryouts.  
“Is it really time?” asked Esau.  
“I don’t know, look at the clock,” Jason said sarcastically.  
“We should do the snow fight too,” Esau said.  
“We should try Arrow Icicle, it sounds really fun,” said Jason as Eve walked up behind them, her feet crunching on the freshly fallen snow. Someone else was following her that Jason did not recognize. “Who are you?” asked Esau.  
“Oh, I’m Mark, we met a while ago,” said Mark.  
“Hi, I’m Jason, this is Esau,” Jason introduced. “Nice to meet you. What competition are you in?” asked Mark.  
“We are doing Arrow Icicle and Snowball Run. What competition are you in?” replied Esau. “Escape,” answered Mark, a proud smile on his face.  
“And you will do well,” said a voice from behind them.  
“Who said that?” asked Jason, turning in all directions. “Sorry, it was me, I didn’t mean to startle you,” apologized the one who had spoken, “Shall I introduce myself.” “Sure, go ahead,” Esau said sarcastically.  
“I’m Jack. I will be the commentator for the competition,” announced Jack.  
Mark turned to Eve and looked at her for a moment. Jason almost thought Mark was going to start drooling until he opened his mouth to speak.  
“I never did get your name,” said Mark.  
“Eve,” clarified Eve.  
“Eve… that’s a nice name,” replied Mark.  
“Thanks,” said Eve, looking a little uncomfortable, but smiling.  
“So, Jack, are you from this village?” asked Esau.  
“No, but I am planning to move here,” said Jack wistfully.  
“Jack!” someone called.  
“What?” answered Jack a little confused.  
“Don’t worry, it’s just me,” said the person now visible, “Oh, hello.”  
“Ya, look, there are other people on the planet. Big surprise!” said Esau sarcastically.  
“Jack, who are your friends?” said the man walking toward them.  
The guy looked about their age - fifteen or sixteen - so it was confusing to Jason why he was talking to Jack like he was Jack’s dad.  
“I am Leo,” introduced Leo, “I am going to be the judge.”  
“Yes, he is my friend from the other village,” confirmed Jack.  
“Ya, I figured that I should probably follow Jack here to keep him out of trouble,” said Leo, “And what are you talking about Jack? I am not your friend, I am your brother.”  
Jack looked like he would explode. He clearly did not like the fact that he was related to Leo. Jason wondered why, but he decided not to press the question. Obviously Esau was not going to be as considerate: like usual.  
“Jack, why are you hiding that he is your brother?” asked Esau.  
“That is none of your business,” Jack snapped.  
“I hate to break up the spat, but Eve, time for the ice skating contest,” interrupted Leo.  
They made their way to the ice rink; a frozen lake about fifty blocks in every direction. The other skaters were making their way to the rink. Jason recognized some, and others might have been from different villages. One thing was for sure: they were all here to win.  
“Ok, take your places. Ela, your up first,” announced Jack as Leo took his seat at the judging table.  
The lady, Ela, was a wonderful skater and good competition. As she ended with a twirl and exited the rink the next skater came on. They kept going until it was Eve’s turn. She stepped up to the edge of the rink, took a deep breath nervously, and began. There was no question she was amazing. Twirl, slide, one foot circle, jump, slide, twirl. It was beautiful to watch. Finally she ended with a bow and slid off the ice.  
“There is no doubt they were all wonderful, but only one can win,” said Jack with a smile.  
“I take all votes into consideration. Although, the overall decision is mine. The winner is ...” Leo paused for dramatic effect, “Eve!”  
Everyone screamed and cheered as Eve accepted her metal.  
“Now it’s time for the festivals to really begin,” said Jack.


	2. Hosting the Festivals

“Ok, everyone, please grab a paper from the stack over there,” said Jack pointing to some chests with papers in them, “They have the time of the games on them.”  
“If you didn’t pass tryouts you cannot compete,” reminded Leo.  
For the next few hours everyone was getting ready. Hours and hours past until it was noon. Noon was when the Arrow Icicle competition began. Jason and Esau started getting ready for the challenge.  
“Who do you think is gonna win? You or me?” asked Jason with a smile.  
“You already know who’s winning this,” Esau said with pride in his eyes.  
“Ya, it’s obvious I’m winning,” clarified Jason, a sly look flowing over him.  
“Time for the competition to begin,” announced Jack.  
“Ok, the rules are simple: don’t mess with the other player while they are shooting by pushing or shoving, you are allowed to knock their arrows out of the air with your arrows, and the first to have eight icicles dropped in their bucket wins,” stated Leo.  
“Begin,” the referee shouted.  
Jason and Esau began shooting arrows from their bows. Twang twang bing. The bow string sang as they shot arrow after arrow. Esau looked over to see how Jason was doing; big mistake. Without the sound of another bow Jason shot clear and fast. Clink. An icicle fell into his bucket. Jason looked over at Esau, a wry smile on his face. Esau began to shoot faster and faster trying to catch up. Then… clink.He made it! Unfortunately, it was only a short lived victory. Clink clink. Jason made two more. Esau looked over and saw one thing on Jason’s face… determination. Esau started shooting blindly hoping to make it. His arrow was about to land when, ping, an arrow knocked his out of the sky.  
“Hey!” Esau yelled accusingly.  
“It’s in the rules!” defended Jason.  
Clink clink. Jason made two more without looking just to show off. [Boys!] Esau started panicking. He had one, Jason had five, how could he win? He focused as hard as possible. Clink clink clink. Three in a row! Esau had made three in a row! Maybe he could win, now that he was only one behind Jason. He focused really hard again in the same stance, and let go. Clink clink clink. Again Esau made three in a row; he only needed one more. Just when Esau started getting cocky in the head about it… clink clink clink.  
“The winner is Jason!” shouted the ref, quickly wiping the smile off of Esau’s smug face.  
Jason stepped forward to receive his metal, as Esau looked at him with jealousy, but his jealousy was replaced by guilt. He should not be jealous, he should be happy. So Esau started clapping and everyone else quickly joined in.  
“Good game buddy,” Jason said, patting Esau on the back.  
“Ya, let’s get food and then go watch Mark do the escape,” suggested Esau.  
“Ok, sounds good,” replied Jason.  
They got food and then headed to the stadium. It’s blocky walls rising high in the air, stretching out for a while. They found seats next to Eve in the row closest to the ground. Jason thought they might have been reserved but decided it wasn’t important. 

“Ok, Escape course this year will be a one on one competition. First our competitors will run forward to chests and grab diamond armor, then jump from block to block without touching the lava below, after that they must run across glass panes without falling, and last they must race through a maze to find the finish line. First to cross the finish line wins,” explained Jack.  
The first two racers walked up to the starting line and got ready. Both had eyes on the chest that would determine who had the lead.  
“Ready. Go!” shouted the ref.  
The two competitors ran to the chest and grabbed the diamond armor quickly putting it on. Then they raced forward to the blocks; the one on the left had a slight lead. They jumped from block to block carefully avoiding the lava. The player on the left - apparently his name was Neal - almost fell off the last block, but he quickly regained balance. The other competitor, Al, was already on the glass panes trying to get a lead, but Neal was catching up fast. As they both jumped off, they saw that there were two ways to go: left or right. Al chose left, Neal chose right. While Al was trying to go back after finding a dead end, Neal found the correct path. Al followed, closing in on Neal. They took a few more turns to the left and right, and then they saw it. The finish line! Al and Neal raced there side by side, but Neal was a little faster and soon was ahead. Al, trying desperately to catch up, tripped over his own feet and fell face first. This gave Neal the time he needed and he crossed the finish line panting and out of breath. He went back and gave Al a hand up, then received his medal. Everyone cheered and cheered.  
Mark and a girl named Nyk were up next. They both got ready now that they knew what was coming. Mark waved at his friends in the stands, and they waved back.  
“Ready. Go!” the ref shouted, the same as last time.  
The two were off before he even finished. Nyk got to her chest first and put the shining blue armor on. Jason figured it was for protection, but it slowed them down a little. They ran to the blocks, just like the last competitors. Mark jumped before Nyk even got the chance to think about it. He crossed the blocks as fast as he could without falling, but Nyk was right behind him. Jason knew Nyk was a baker in their village, he passed her every morning on his way to the blacksmith shop, but he still wanted Mark to win. Nyk and Mark reached the glass panes at the same time. As they ran across, Mark’s right foot slipped just enough for Jason to see, and it gave Nyk a lead. She jumped of first and chose the right of the maze, even though she knew that they had changed the maze. So Mark chose the left and found it was the right way. He couldn’t hear Nyk behind him though so he assumed that she wasn’t following him… strange. He knew there was only one way to go, so why was she not trying to get in front of him. Whatever the reason was he kept going. Soon he could see where the finish line was and started running for it, the thick leaves of the maze opening into the stadium. When he crossed the finish line he looked at the referee. There was a confused look on the ref’s face. Why was he so confused? Was Mark covered in leaves and twigs or something? Then he looked over and the same shock went through him. Nyk was also standing a few feet away staring at him. How could that be? There was only one way to get through the maze… wasn’t there?  
“Well, this is a shock,” said the ref, “One of you must have done something wrong or cheated. There is only one way to get through the maze. So, who wins?”  
“Me. I did it right, he must have cheated. Didn’t you see me get here first?” boasted Nyk.  
“I did not cheat. I got through fair and square. After you went to the right what turn did you take?” inquired Mark, trying to defend himself.  
“Shall we go look then?” asked Nyk with an accusatory tone.  
They went back to the start of the maze where Mark’s friends - Jason, Esau, Eve, Jack, and Leo - were already looking around. They all went through the maze taking the exact turns that Mark and Nyk had taken. Nothing, not a clue or a secret passage, was found. Jack was looking at the path Nyk had taken with Jason, and he was finding it odd. There were a bunch of turns right and left, but they were all connected. Not a single path led to a dead end or in a circle. Suddenly Jack saw his proof of Nyk cheating.  
“Everyone come here,” commanded Jack.  
“What is it?” asked Esau.  
“A missing block of leaves, and the item is floating on the ground. That can only mean that the path Nyk took was carved with shears, straight to the finish line,” Jack explained, showing them the missing block of leaves.  
“Incorrect. I did not cheat,” defended Nyk, though her voice shook with fear, so it was easy to guess she knew she had just been caught.  
“Miss Nyk, you will be shown back to your house and not able to compete in next year's tournament as a punishment for breaking the rules,” Leo said, “And Mark, you are announced the winner.”  
As they headed back into the stadium everyone cheered after the group explained what had happened. Mark was given the medal everyone knew he deserved. Afterward the friends went out to get food and talk about everything. But just when they were starting to have fun.  
“Ow!” Mark screamed out in pain as an arrow hit him, making him flash red.  
“Hey, what was that?!” yelled Eve.


	3. The Attack

“Skeletons!” screamed Leo.  
They all took swords out of their inventory and charged toward the front of the village. When they got there, skeletons were everywhere. The mob coming in from the north was huge, with more coming in behind them. It was getting dark enough for hostile mobs to spawn, but there were never this many monsters. Clink clank clunk. The skeletons’ bones all made shaking, rattling noises so they could not sneak up on villagers… good. There were many villagers there to fight the mob, all with their swords out, but not enough. When Jason thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. Shshshshshshshshshshshshshsh. Next came the creepers and creepers and creepers. At least three hundred monsters positioned themselves right outside the village.  
“Well, this is wonderful,” said Esau sarcastically.  
Ssssssssssssss clink clank ssssssssss.   
“Really? You had to open your big mouth?” asked Jack as spider jockeys descended a distant hill and headed toward the village.  
They all readied their swords as the mobs closed in. Archers went to the back of the group and waited for the monsters to get closer. The creatures before them were also in formation, though, which Jason found strange since monsters aren’t very coordinated. Jason knew this was going to be a full on fight, but he was hoping it would be quick. Suddenly, a single arrow was launched into the air by a spider jockey. It landed amidst the villagers, but didn’t hit anyone. Then a rain of pointed shafts flew into the air; it was beautiful to watch, until they did a nose-dive straight for the villagers. Each villager scrambled out of the way as fast as they could, but not all of them made it in time. After the arrows, the creepers charged forward, their mottled green and gray skin turning bright white as their ignition process began.  
“MINECRAFT!” Eve screamed at the top of her small, blocky lungs. The battle cry led the village into battle.  
Jason slashed and hacked with his sword, it felt great to stab a monster in the gut every few seconds. He was a nightmare for the monsters on that field, some even tried to run away. Every time he swung his sword it found either pure white bone, or green, thick flesh. The small army - at least fifty villagers - finished the skeletons and creepers off in minutes, littering the field with bones, gunpowder, XP (experience points) orbs, and the occasional bow and arrows. But they still had the spider jockeys left. Jason raced forward and struck the spider, hoping to take it out from under the skeleton. He had to avoid claws and arrows while, at the same time, attacking. He was engaged in battle when an arrow flew through the air and hit Jason with a whistling sound, making him flash red. It momentarily knocked him off balance and he fell, allowing the spider to move forward and pin him to the ground. The spider brought its claw into the air to strike him. He closed his eyes, ready to die, when Esau ran over and thrust his sword into the spider's rectangular abdomen. Jason got back up and started attacking it again until it died with a satisfying pop. Jason and Esau ran over to give Eve some help, but it didn’t look like she needed it. She was a terror with a sword, only a monster with a death wish would challenge her [meaning in would be dumb]. Jason turned abruptly and hit a jockey with the hilt of his sword, then he sidestepped and brought his sword down on the bone-headed skeleton. With one more hit and a sad cry [that sounded like two bones rubbing together] the skeleton was gone. The spider didn’t stick around to see what happened next; he [or maybe it was a she?] chose to scuttle away with the rest of the jockeys.  
“Where did everyone go? There are not many items on the ground, but we have only twenty villagers. Some are missing,” concluded Jack as he came over to join them, a big cut crawled up his left arm into his sleeve. Jason had not really looked at Jack that closely before, but now he realized that Jack had light brown eyes and ruffled black hair, his body was tall and thin with long, muscular arms.  
“Perhaps we should follow them,” suggested Mark, whose elbow was slowly leaking blood down his skinny arm onto his wrist.  
“Ya, I think they just headed back from where they came,” agreed Eve.  
“If we hurry, we can catch them,” urged Leo, whose shirt was torn in places, so you could see the wounds underneath.  
The small group of six ran in the direction of the monsters. They followed for at least an hour before catching up. The smell hit them before anything else, as they crawled up a hill, trying to stay hidden. When they peeked over the ridge, what they saw almost made Jason want to run back to the village. There was a massive Jungle Temple with the monsters from the battle walking [if you could call it walking] into the building. Each of them, except for the lone spider, holding a villager in their bony clutches, slowly handing them off to zombies. The little group of friends managed to sneak past the monsters into the temple.  
“Oh. My. Notch,” gasped Esau as they hid behind some blocks, and stared out over the vast inside of the temple.


	4. Jungle Temple

There was one large room with one entry way and five other tunnels running in different directions. The roof was at least sixty blocks high and unmeasurably wide. There were zombies flowing in and out of each tunnel; all of them were holding villagers. A nearby group (or mob) of zombies were talking.

“Na-Len, how do we explain why we only have one villager to Master?” asked the zombie in a deep, slightly muffled voice.  
“How do you think, On-Don? We have to tell him the truth,” answered the other decaying zombie, Na-Len.  
“But he will kill us, Na-Len,” cried the third zombie.  
“What’s up with the names?” whispered Eve, confused, but almost laughing.  
“I don’t know. Jason what do you think?” questioned Esau.  
“The first letter in the prefix of the name stands for their rank; the closer it is to A, the higher the rank. The second part of the name is what family they come from. For example, two captain brothers would be Ca-Shen and Ci-Shen, if they were promoted to general, they would be Ba-Shen and Bi-Shen,” explained Jason as the zombies walked toward the middle hall [probably to their doom].  
“How do they get an A?” asked Mark, a look of confusion on his face.  
“They must become monster kings to do that,” answered Jason with complete certainty in his voice.  
Then they heard a wail and scream [the end of the three zombies’ lives that they had seen earlier].  
“I’m thinking it would be wise to -” started Leo,but he was cut off by someone yelling orders and a scratchy voice saying something they couldn’t understand: something about ‘Master Ty’. They ran out and back to the village as fast as they could. Villagers welcomed them back in and then flooded them with questions.  
“Are we in danger?”  
“Where are our friends?”  
“Why were there so many monsters?”  
In that moment the friends realized how little they knew, and how much information they needed. There were so many questions to be answered and so little they knew. They had only been at the Temple for about twenty minutes, they couldn’t know much. It seemed like a hopeless cause to Jason but, after quieting the villagers down, they headed to Jason’s house to talk about it all and try to formulate a plan.


	5. Master Ty

When they emerged from Jason’s house their plan was ready to be executed. They explained the plan to the other villagers and got ready to move.   
“Okay guys, don’t try to be a hero, stick to the plan,” said Esau in a mocking tone.  
“Move out!” commanded Jason in a strong and confident voice.  
The militia moved out on command in a strong march toward their destination. As they made their way through the jungle they kept their eyes open for monsters that might have been lurking in the shadows. When they reached the Temple the villagers slowed down and some hid behind dirt while others climbed into trees with their bows in hand and arrows notched. While the villagers got ready with their weapons, the friends sneaked into the temple trying to find a passage to whoever ‘Master Ty’ was. After looking around they chose the middle passage that led to a dark room. It was not just a dark room, it was huge, big, gigantic, whatever you could think of, that was it. Jason couldn’t even see where the room ended on either side.   
“Wow,” commented Mark in astonishment.  
“Wow indeed. Is this your first time in the Great Room?” asked a deep, but at the same time gentle voice.  
“Yes sir,” replied Jason, figuring it was probably Ty.  
“Are you Master Ty?” questioned Esau.  
“Yes, I am. How may I help you?” inquired Ty, as he appeared when a few torches were lit, “Are you one of my servants?”  
“Servants?! We are not servants! We are here to ask you a question. If you want to call me a servant, though, my hand can servant right in your face!” screamed Eve, making them all take a step back from her now ferocious eyes.  
“Endermen 23 and 24, take them to the zombie chamber,” commanded Ty, with not even a little hesitation in his voice.  
“Please, Master Ty, hear us out first,” pleaded Leo.  
“Very well, what is it?” asked Ty, not at all interested.  
“We were wondering what was happening, our village had a lot of monsters attack. We followed them and ended up here, so could you tell us what is happening?” explained Jason, trying to be polite.   
“They are my monsters, I captured your villagers, they’re being turned into an army of zombie villagers. Is that all? Oh, and that’s where you're headed,” clarified Ty, with a bored expression.  
The endermen came and took each of them down to an old, smelly, dusty cell. It was explained to them they would only get an apple a day, and they were allowed to kill each other at any time. There were six beds in the corner and a little bottle of water next to them. It was just sad, how were they going to get out? Their small militia couldn’t get them out, there were too many monsters. It was hopeless, no way out, barely any food, and lots of security. The endermen would be constantly checking on them, and they would be turned into zombie villagers!  
“Well,this is hopeless,” Leo said.  
“In hopelessness, there is grace,” said Jack, as he gingerly sat down on one of the beds.  
“Where did that come from?” asked Esau with confusion.  
“I read it on a sign at the village,” answered Jack.

“So… what now?” contemplated Eve, looking at them all.  
Creak creak. The door opened and three zombies were thrown in. Each of them were snarling and flashing the endermen dirty looks. Ahhhrrrrrgggg gggggrrrrroooo. Deep grumbling came from the trio of zombies [in zombie language, they said some very rude things] , that was pointed toward the endermen. The zombies made their way over to the beds and sat down, scaring the villagers to the other side of the cell.  
“Ha ha ha. Enjoy your stay you traitors,” laughed Ty as he watched them thrown into the cell.  
“We not traitors,” growled the zombie on the left.  
“You just bad master,” grumbled the zombie on the right. He said it so that Ty could not hear the comment.  
“You let servants die?” asked the zombie in the middle.  
“Yes, I will let you all die sad and alone,” said Ty, with no empathy in his voice.  
The zombies made Jason uncomfortable, but they stayed on their side of the room. All of them kept looking over at the zombies who were mumbling in the corner of the room. They growled and mumbled, but they weren’t like the other decaying creatures. Zombies usually attacked villagers immediately and frothed at the mouth. These zombies were much neater and cleaner, with their shirts new and clean and no loose flesh on their bodies.  
“So… what’s your name?” asked Esau, trying for a smile.  
“I am Ca-Len, this Ci-Len, and this Ce-Len,” introduced Ca-Len with very poor grammar.  
“I have way out,” smiled Ce-Len, struggling to speak English.  
“And we’re supposed to trust you? Just like that?” asked Esau skeptically.  
“Come or die, very simple,” said Ci-Len.  
“Come on guys, let’s just go with them,” pleaded Eve.  
“Oh, alright,” said Esau.  
The whole group smiled and turned toward the zombies, who smiled back.


	6. Your Timing Sucks

As they dug their way out through the stone walls with pick axes the zombies somehow acquired, they were met with a challenge. There was bedrock in the way, and Jason figured it was probably to keep Ty’s army from digging things up. They decided to go around it, but it took extra time; time they probably didn’t have. As they dug Jason noticed that his HP (health points) were getting low from lack of food, but he kept digging. Dirt suddenly appeared in front of them as they neared the surface Jason heard lots of voices; hopefully villagers and not monsters. They popped up right in front of the militia, startling them all into defensive positions.  
“At ease,” commanded Jason, as he raised his hands, showing he held no weapons.  
“ZOMBIES!” screamed one of the villagers, notching an arrow in his bow string.  
“Stop! They’re with us. Lower your bow,” assured Eve.  
This gave all the villagers confused looks on their blocky faces. Suddenly, someone pushed through the crowd, moving all the villagers back. He looked just like any other NPC (non-playable character), with a smock that indicated he was part of the cavalry. He was old,though, but that didn’t stop Leo from running up to him.  
“Lucas! You came,” shouted Leo with excitement, “Umm… guys this is Lucas an old friend of mine.”  
“Emphasis on ‘old’,” whispered Esau with a smile.  
“Esau!” Jason whispered back, elbowing him in the ribs.  
“I am here to help you all,” said Lucas, with a smile.  
“Your timing sucks. We just escaped prison,” accused Jack.  
“Jack!” chided Leo, “Be nice!”  
Jason realized that Mark hadn’t spoken in a while. He looked over and saw Mark was contemplating something.  
“Hey, Mark. Whatcha thinking about?” asked Jason, drawing all eyes to him.  
Realizing all eyes were on him, Mark looked up and opened his mouth to speak. As soon as he opened his mouth, they heard a voice shouting something. Quickly they hid themselves amongst the hills and trees.  
Two endermen teleported over to the front of the Jungle Temple. They walked around for a little bit and then teleported away.  
“We need to get defences ready to fight,” said Eve, breaking the silence.  
“Ya, we do,” agreed Mark, smiling at Eve.  
“Ok, everyone get ready. I need archers up in the trees, bows ready, arrows notched. I need warriors in front, armor on and swords ready. I need a retreat wall built just in case we lose, with a place for archers to stand, and dispensers on the side. Get this done quickly and quietly. LET’S MOVE!” commanded Jason, in a strong and commanding voice. One thing he did not feel, though, was bravery. Secretly he wanted to just run home and hide, but he couldn’t do that; no, not when his friends were risking their lives to save Minecraft. As he watched all the defences go up, he tried to boost the militia’s morale with positive things, like saying they would win and they were great. Jason was getting more confident himself, as well. They had about two hundred warriors there, what could happen?  
“Come here,” said Ca-Len, as they led Jason aside.  
“We have thing for team,” smiled Ci-Len, struggling to speak english.  
Jason quickly gathered the rest of their small squadron: himself, Eve, Mark, Jack, Esau, Leo, and Lucas. They headed into the woods, following the zombies. When they reached the most dense part of the forest, one zombie pulled a well hidden lever. A dirt block moved, revealing a chest. Ce-Len stepped forward and opened the chest pulling out chest plates, leggings, helmets, and boots; seven of each… perfect.  
“Put on,” suggested Ce-Len.  
They all put the armor on, which Jason now saw was diamond, and was also enchanted. Next, the zombie pulled out seven diamond swords, and handed one to each of the friends. Jason happily took his sword and held it in his hand. It fit perfectly in his blocky fingers. An iridescent purple glow illuminated their surroundings, Jason realized it was the enchantments. As they headed back in their new glowing armor, they thanked the zombies excessively. When they got back to camp, a cheer rose up from the NPC army. It was time to fight.


	7. Through the Tunnels

The group was going in, possibly more ready than ever. The plan was to draw the monsters out, only to have them destroyed by their militia. They quietly sneaked up behind the guard zombie. Jason pulled out a leash, careful not to make a sound, and tied the zombie’s arms to his side.  
“Hey, Fo-Tan, how family?” asked Ci-Len with a mocking smile.  
“Outcast zombies and villagers? Ty will hear about this,” warned Fo-Tan.  
Out of the corner of his eye Jason saw something move.  
“Get him!” yelled Jason as he saw it was a zombie.  
Before he even finished his sentence Lucas and Leo had already tied him up.  
"Um… question. Why did we not just do this the first time?" asked Jack.  
"Because we needed to make sure Ty was not friendly so we had a reason to destroy his temple," replied Jason.  
They continued their trek after the delay. When they reached the tunnels in the temple, it was so dusty they had to hold back coughs, so they would not be heard. There were five tunnels, perfect! One for each pair.  
“Eve and Jack, you take the left tunnel, Jason and Esau, you take the right tunnel, Mark and Ca-Len, you take the middle tunnel, Ci-Len and Ce-Len, you take northwest. Leo and I will take northeast,” ordered Lucas, as they all headed in their own direction.   
While they were trying to find him, Ty was doing his own little scheme.  
“Come my zombie king, I have a mission for you,” ordered Ty.  
“Yes, Master, I await your command,” answered a hulking , dark figure, who emerged from an opening in the room.  
“Take you generals and get rid of those wanna-be heros that walk through my temple,” screamed Ty, becoming enraged, “NOW Al-Oks! Or you won’t live long enough to see the Overworld overrun by monsters!”   
The zombie king shuffled out of the room as fast as he could, and into an even darker chamber. It made Ty laugh that he could make a zombie bigger than himself, shudder at a simple threat.  
“Generals!” summoned Al-Oks, in the dark chamber.   
Five large zombies came shuffling into the room; they were only slightly smaller than Al-Oks. They were his most elite generals, and right now, all he had. He knew if they failed, they would be exterminated… painfully. Ty was a good master, but he showed little, to no, mercy. If he failed, this would not be a forgive and forget system. Ty was not hesitant to make creatures suffer, no matter, animals, monsters, or villagers.   
“Be-Lam, Ba-Ged, Bi-Sol, Bu-Kim, and our new general, Bu-Nil; I have mission for you. If you fail mission, you die by master's hand,” warned Al-Oks to his generals, “There are intruders, I have orders from Master to show no mercy.”  
All of the generals shuffled off to do their merciless tasks with his army, leaving Al-Oks alone in the chamber. Then he saw what looked like little purple particles obscure his view of the dark room. When the particles cleared the enderman king (enderman100) was staring down at him.At first, it frightened Al-Oks, but then he saw who it was and relaxed. Next, Al-Oks heard a clink clank, that sounded like a pot and pan clanging together, as the skeleton king, Ziflan [I know, it’s a weird name] walked in. A fuzzy thing fell from the ceiling to the ground, but pulled up at the last minute with a silky string hanging from the ceiling: the spider queen, Chilakto.   
“What issssss the misssssssion?” asked Chilakto, her words long and drawn out.  
“To find the intruders,” answered Al-Oks, “if you don't the penalty is death.”  
Ce-Len and Ci-Len moved through the tunnels checking every shadow, and hiding from monsters when necessary. Once they heard a spider scuttle by mumbling about finding intruders, but they just kept going. When they reached the end of the tunnel, there were two ways to go.  
“We go west,” suggested Ce-Len.  
They kept moving through the winding tunnels, occasionally bumping their heads on uneven blocks. The two came to a dark chamber and saw Al-Oks: their leader. They quickly put away their swords and extended their arms, lumbering slowly over there.  
“Are you lost?” asked Al-Oks when he saw them, “You should be looking for the villagers.”  
They said nothing, for fear he would know it was them; the outcast zombies. They just shuffled off, pretending to go looking for intruders. When the zombies came back to where they had originally split up, they saw everyone else there.  
“Great, you're here. Mark and Ca-Len found Ty,” explained Jason.  
They all went down the middle tunnel, not knowing that Ty was already waiting for them. They ran and ran, it seemed like forever, but they finally reached the chamber Ty was in. The only light was coming from their armor and swords. With the small light being the brightest thing in the room, Jason noticed words carved into his sword… Diamond Lightning. What the heck did that mean? He decided not to show his friends.  
“Welcome, I thought you might not make it through my monsters, but despite my doubts the gifted crew made it here. Consider me impressed,” said an echoing voice.  
Several torches came to life, the dancing flames were beautiful for the few seconds Jason saw them. His attention was drawn away from them when Ty’s smiling face appeared.  
“What do you mean gifted?” asked Leo, with a hint of curiosity.  
“I mean each of you are special,” Ty replied, “Each of you have… well, I wouldn’t call it a power as much as an ability.”  
They all looked at each other awkwardly.  
Finally Lucas asked, “What do you mean, ability?”


	8. Who Are We?

“I mean you are each gifted in a special and different way, able to do things others can’t even dream of. It is a rare gift in Minecraft,” Ty answered, bitterly laughing at their surprised expressions.  
“Why would you tell us this?” inquired Jack.  
“I have my reasons, and you will know them soon enough,” said Ty, like it was obviously a good enough reason.  
“So explain them to us,” said Jason with an uncertain expression.  
“Ok, if you say so. You each have a separate and unique ability, that is, everyone except the traitors,” said Ty, giving the zombies a pointed look.   
The zombies growled and looked back at him, like nothing would make them happier than to rip him to shreds. The group could feel the uncomfortable tension between the four.  
“At least tell me you all know who the leader of the quest is,” said Ty smiling childishly at them.   
“Who?” they all asked in unison.  
“Isn’t it obvious… Jason,” Ty said with an unsettlingly happy smile on his square face.  
“Guys, we are equals on this quest, there is no leader… is there?” Jason asked nervously.  
“I don’t know, is there… leader?” asked Leo. They all smiled, silently supporting him. Jason thought it was silly. One sentence and they all accepted him and moved on. Jason hadn't really even thought of their predicament as a quest; more of a problem.  
“Well, this is all very touching and what not, but I think the real reason you came was to capture me. Am I not correct?” smiled Ty as the cavern slowly filled with monsters.  
“It’s a trap!” screamed Esau in alarm.  
“Well, then… ATTACK!” Jason yelled back, as they got their swords ready.  
The zombies were in front attacking, the skeletons were on raised on blocks shooting at them, the endermen were teleporting around, trying to get hit so they could fight, and the spiders were climbing down the walls. They were under attack from all sides! Each of them got in battle positions, forming a circle. A zombie raked its claws across Eve’s chest plate, and she fell, but luckily Mark was there to catch her. When Eve got back up, she hit the zombie with all her force over and over. The last thing that zombie ever did was give a confused expression to his companion, then with a pop, the zombie disappeared, leaving behind three glowing orbs of XP and some rotten flesh. As the skeletons shot arrows at them, Lucas went around hitting the arrows back with the flat of his sword. Jason lunged at a zombie rendering it of its HP, then rolled to the side as another one attempted to claw at his back.   
“You all have good fighting skills, but I still haven't told you your real skills yet,” said Ty watching the battle like it was a game, “Eve, you have the unique skill of breathing under water, Jack you can move the earth at will, Mark can run faster than thought possible. Oh, Esau, you can summon fire from within, Leo, you have enhanced potion skills and a mind like no other, Lucas, you have superior fighting skills. Jason, the leader of it all, has the element that makes or breaks this team… lightning,” exclaimed Ty as if nothing made him happier than telling them this.  
“So then how do we use them?” asked Mark, bewildered, as he slashed at a spider.  
“You must find your greatest emotion - happiness, anger, sadness, love, etc. - and think of all the things that make you feel that way. Then unleash it as an element,” explained Ty.  
They all looked at each other. Was this some sort of trick? They were a random group of villagers that just happened to be the seven that were supposed to stop an army. None of this seemed real. Jason was half hoping he would open his eyes and realize it has been a crazy, unrealistic nightmare. Nothing happened and Jason realized he might just die in the next few minutes. The group clearly doubted Ty, but one of them took the plunge.  
Lucas closed his eyes and concentrated hard, then he opened them. Suddenly, he felt a burst of energy, he rolled and slashed and lunged, killing monster after monster. He felt like he could do it all day as if his moves just came naturally to him.  
“Dang Lucas, your old bones can move faster than mine,” joked Esau, making the group laugh a little.  
“We need to draw the army out to the other villagers so they can attack,” said Jack, swiping at monsters.  
They all carved their way through the monster hoard toward the entrance, but quickly saw that they could not reach it in time. There was only one thing left to do.  
“Jack, I know this is a lot to ask,” said Jason with fake courage in his voice, “But I need you to move the earth up and float us out of here.”  
“Ya,we really could use a miracle right now!” cried Eve over the cacophony of monsters.  
Jack closed his eyes and thought of his overwhelming fear, just as Lucas had thought of happiness. Then,the earth gave a jolt and up they went. Jack could feel the layers of the earth and the exact location of every block. He imagined the clump of earth moving them out of the chamber and out of the temple. The rock copied what he imagined, and took them to their militia.  
“BATTLE POSITIONS!” ordered Jason.  
“Ya,he’s our new leader guys,” clarified Leo.  
The militia stopped gawking and took their positions. When the monsters swept out of the temple, they were met with steel arrow shafts from the iron-clad warriors.


	9. Swords vs. Claws

The monsters were stunned for a minute giving the villagers a few moments advantage. When the monsters realized they could move into the forest without bursting into flames, they advanced. The battle got heated immediately and as they fought, the monsters were slowly pushed back.  
“Told you the dispensers were a good idea,” said Esau.  
“Didn't I come up with that?” remembered Jason.  
Then more monsters started filing out, and more arrows were shot from the skeletons. There was a sudden illumination as a fire started to blaze. When Jason looked over, he realized it was Esau!   
“Esau, your flaming!” Jason yelled over the noise of monsters.  
“I know. I figured out how to do it!” Esau yelled back.  
Two zombies advanced on Lucas; that was their mistake. In a few seconds they were nothing but XP and rotten flesh.   
“Lucas I will say it again… Dang,” Eve said as she and Jack took down a few monsters.  
“Wait guys, where is Mark ,” asked Ca-Len. The zombies had just joined the group.  
As soon as the words escaped his decaying lips, a stream of dirt flew up from the ground. Mark appeared, after it stopped; he had figured out his powers.  
“Wow dude, you got speed. Why do I have to be the mad scientist?” Leo exclaimed.  
“Because you are the smart one,” answered Ce-Len, making Leo jump.  
“Stop sneaking up on me, Ce-Len,” said Leo as he smacked a spider out of the way that had crawled up behind Jason. A high pitched sound filled the air as someone struck an enderman.  
“Everyone, take out your buckets of water and pour them on the endermen,” commanded Jason.  
“Who gave them water?” asked Leo, confused.  
“I did,” said Eve, pride in her voice at her cleverness.  
“That was brilliant!” exclaimed Leo.  
The villagers started pouring water everywhere, forming a makeshift gate between them and the endermen. Clink clank sssssss clash. All the sounds of battle filled the forest air. But it was not all XP and monster remains, scattered inventories were there too, from fallen comrades. It was as though they were there to remind everyone what they were fighting for: their families and homes. Swords to claws, fighting for their lives, and the villagers were winning. A villager screamed out in pain and was gone just like that; another inventory added to the ground.  
“Pull back and form ranks!” yelled Jason.  
They pulled back just enough to put a gap between them and the mobs, and then formed ranks just as Jason had commanded. The archers went to the Archer towers, the soldiers went to the front, the Calvary got ready to charge, and leading them all was Jason.  
“ATTACK!” Jason screamed at the top of his lungs.  
They charged forward with all they had. Jason had just enough time to move before an arrow shot past his face, narrowly missing him.  
“Woah, where's the archer?” he asked.  
Then he saw it, the most horrible skeleton ever. With dread, Jason realized the terror he was looking at was the leader of the skeletons.  
“Make way for the skeleton king, Ziflan, you insignificants,” boomed Ziflan.  
“What the heck! We have to fight that - that… thing?” asked Leo.  
“Yes puny, but gifted, little being,” Ziflan said, regarding Leo.   
“Who are you calling puny, Ugly?” Leo asked with a smirk.  
“You!” Ziflan yelled, and then he raced forward and hit Leo so high, Jason thought he touched the atmosphere.  
“NO!” Jason screamed, and then dumped water on the ground under Leo.  
Leo landed with a thump, splash and groaned, but other than that he seemed to be just fine.  
“You monster! I've had to put up with boys 24/7 the last few days, but you - you are the worst!” screamed Eve.  
The skeleton king, clearly surprised, backed up a few steps, but quickly realized the whole army was watching him. Correcting his mistake, Ziflan charged. Jason came up behind him, and by the time the king turned around, he had a sword embedded in his butt.  
“Get off puny leader,” screeched Ziflan.  
“Then surrender to us!” Jason yelled back with as much confidence as you can have swinging from a skeleton butt.  
“Surrender? Never,” laughed the skeleton king.  
“Then be fired upon,” said Esau as he lit his hand with flames and stuck it in the king’s face. What happened next was just creepy to look at. As Jason watched, flames licked the sides of the skeleton's skull. ‘If I ever survive this, I won’t be able to get that out of my mind,’ Jason thought. The king screamed and disintegrated, a wave of energy then pushed through the crowd of monsters and villagers. Jason tried to stay conscious, but it was a lost cause.


	10. Prophecies

Black. Just black and darkness. Then Jason opened his eyes and realized he was lost. Then he remembered what happened. He looked around and realized that his friends were laying in a row. He thought it was a little strange that they all landed like that; in order.  
“Hey, where are we?” Jason asked.  
Then feeling came back to him and he realized how numb he had been. Jason was pretty sure his sentence had come out, “Hu, ra a wum?” Thankfully no one had heard that. The others were gaining consciousness slowly, so he decided to make a fire. After the fifth try, he managed to get up.  
‘What if I’m not good enough to lead? What if I fail them? What if I get an idea and we all die because of it? The whole world of Minecraft is depending on me; what if I let them all down?’ Jason thought about this for a bit, running all the scenarios in his head. [Rolling ideas around like dice is harder than you may think.]  
“Ugh,” groaned Jack.  
Jason looked over and saw him getting up.  
“Oof,” grunted Leo.  
“Ouch,” yelled Mark, who apparently was lying on a very uncomfortable twig.  
Jason was able to guess this after Mark cursed and made some rude hand gestures several times.   
“Potty mouth,” accused Eve as she rolled over and pushed off the ground.  
“Uuuu…” complained Esau.  
“Ok, what now leader?” asked Leo from the ground.  
“Please stop calling me that, I’m still your friend. But did you guys notice that we were all lying in a row?” Jason pointed out.  
“Hold up, where’s Lucas? He would have turned to dust if he fell. That’s how old he is,” mocked Jack.  
“Watch your tongue, Jack,” Lucas retorted as he jumped down from a tree, “I can hear you.”  
They looked around for their zombie friends, but no such luck.  
“Oh, back to what you were saying earlier, Jason, that is a bit strange,” Leo said breaking the silence.  
“He was wise to see that,” said a man who was standing in the darkness.  
“Wow, stalker,” said Esau.  
“I was the one who lined you up after you fell,” said the man.  
As he stepped into the sun, Jason could see that he had white hair combed back and neat, a clean and smiling face, and a long, black smock with a white stripe running down the middle.  
“Who are you? I don’t recognize that smock,” inquired Jason.  
“I am The Eye, a prophecy speaker. We are born once every five millennia,” said The Eye.  
“Wait, how did your mom name you?... ‘Let’s name him Derik… no, Carl...no, The Eye… perfect’” mocked Jack.  
“It is not my real name, fool,” said Eye in a rather irritated tone.  
He led them to his tree house.  
“Come in, have some cookies and milk,” said Eye politely.  
His voice was sweet, but it also sounded like, ‘Don’t cross me or I’ll kill you. Want some cookies and milk?’  
Jason wondered if he put poison in the cookies, but when he saw them he didn’t care; his stomach had been empty too long!  
“Enjoy,” said Eye.  
His tree house was amazing, but the milk was fresh and delicious; that’s all that matters.  
“So, prophecy man, can we have a prophecy for our journey?” asked Esau with a mouth full of cookies.  
“I suppose, but they are rather depressing and sad,” warned Eye.  
“Bring it,” said Leo,a little too excited.  
“Ok,” Eye began as his face darkened and he went into a trance-like state.

“One shall betray from deep within,  
Shifting a battle that shall begin,  
As you meet those not to trust,  
And find the answer hidden in dust.  
Under the sea shall the treasure lie,  
And as your journey ends one shall die,  
And one a sacrifice after final cry.  
An urge you cannot see,  
Begins The Battle for the Key.”


	11. Suspicious Victims

‘Well depressing was for sure.’ Jason thought about the prophecy. How could it be true? Was it a big lie poem? It could be true though. Jason thought it was possible, but he couldn’t admit it.  
“So… what now?” asked Esau.  
The question hung in the air for a while. Jason didn’t need to look up to know that they were staring at him.  
“We need to keep going,” Jason said in his most confident voice, but there was barely any confidence left in him.  
They walked through the forest, farther and farther and farther until they needed a break.  
“Let’s have some food,” pleaded Mark as they sat down.  
“Guys, this ’And you will meet those not to trust’ part is worrying me. I mean, it could be the next group we meet… couldn’t it?” asked Eve, worry obviously in her voice.  
“Ya, the next people we meet, we should pound them to pulp,” agreed Jack.  
“No one’s pounding anyone,” reassured Jason.  
Leo looked at him with concern, “We should be more worried about stuff like ‘As your journey ends one shall die’, that is not a happy thought.”  
Leo was right, as usual.  
“We should send out scouts,” suggested Mark, thinking this may be his moment alone with Eve.  
“Ok,” agreed Jason.  
“I’ll go,” volunteered Eve.  
Mark was sure his face was as red as a tomato. ‘She wants to go with me!’ He thought. They walked into the dense forest.  
“Nice day, isn’t it?” asked Eve, a little nervous; she had never had a walk alone… with a boy. Especially a boy she liked, so it was a little weird.  
“Ya, nice day, ya,” stuttered Mark.   
‘Poor guy, he’s even worse at this than I am. I bet he’s never walked alone with a girl. But does he like me?’ Eve guessed he did, but she didn’t want to say anything.  
“Eve,” Mark said, breaking the silence, “Um… do you… um… have a favorite place to be?”  
It was a weird question, but probably better than if he had asked her if she had a favorite color.  
“Ya, with you,” Eve replied.   
She almost melted when she heard how cheesy that was. Mark’s face looked like a bowl of tomato sauce right now.  
“Sorry, that came out wrong, I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” she corrected.  
“No,no, it’s ok,” said Mark, “I like to be with you too.”  
Now she was sure her face was burning. After a long line of burning faces, they returned to camp.  
“We saw nothing but jungle,” said Mark.  
“Ok, good,” Jason replied.  
Jason wondered what they had talked about. He knew they liked each other, as it was quite obvious. So it must have been a little weird.  
“HELP!” someone screamed.  
Jason didn’t know who it was, but in an instant he was off the ground with his sword ready. Slash. Jason hit something, though he couldn’t tell what it was. Moan. He instantly realized what had happened. ‘Summing it all up: Ty… Angry… Army… Poor victims… Us fight… Us in trouble.’ Jason thought. They fought the zombies for hours. Left, right, slash, roll, duck, jab, hit, poof. Common pattern for fighting. It worked though. Zombies all went bye-bye poof, and they won. The team helped the victims back to their makeshift camp.   
“Are you ok? What’s your name?” asked Lucas as he took care of them.  
“Here drink this,” Leo told them handing each of the five in the group a healing potion.  
“Whoa, Leo, where did you get those?” asked Jack.  
“I have powers too, earth boy,” Leo said with a bit of irritation.  
“Nice job,Leo, cool power,” commented Esau.  
Eve summed up, “Let’s see, with all the powers there is: Earth Boy, Water Girl, Speedy, Hot Head, Potion Guy, Sword Skills, and Lightning Leader.”  
Esau looked offended, “Hey, I’m not a hot head.”  
Jason had almost forgotten they had five, slowly recovering, guests.  
“So, who are you?”  
Jason observed that there were three guys and two girls.  
“Emma,” chirped the red-headed girl.  
“Hydi,” announced the other, slightly taller, girl.  
“Ishmar,” claimed one of the guys that had a lost look on his face and appeared kind of stupid.  
“Fin,” said another guy, who had brown curly hair.  
“James,” said the last guy.  
Looking at James made Jason a little jealous. He had fresh cut blond hair [like Jason’s, but nicer], a lot of upper body strength and muscle, he was tall, and wore jeans and a slightly see-through white T-shirt. His face was no less than perfect. James had shining white teeth, dark brown eyes, and smooth skin. Jason decided James could be a supermodel if he wanted.  
“Your hot...I mean not supposed to be away from a village,” Eve said while Mark looked even more jealous than Jason.  
“We can be wherever we want,” said Emma defiantly, holding James’ hand.  
“Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?” asked Jack a little intrusively.  
“That is none of your business,” Emma defended.  
Jason realized Jack had jealousy in his voice toward James. Didn’t they all. Jack must have liked Emma.  
“We are only walking around, no need to be suspicious,” reassured James in a calm and soothing voice.  
“We are trying to find the Jungle Temple,” Ishmar added.  
He clearly was not supposed to say anything because Hydi shot him a look.  
“Jungle Temple?”asked Lucas, who had been quietly sitting with Leo.  
After they talked about it for a while, Jason understood they weren’t looking for Ty’s temple. Instead, they were looking for a normal one with loot inside.  
“Let’s travel together,” suggested Fin.  
Just like that they were all walking through the jungle the next morning, looking for the Jungle Temple like friends.


	12. Those not to Trust

As they walked through the jungle Jason couldn't stop thinking about how Ty had told them their abilities. Why would he tell them about something they could use to defeat him? Then the answer came to him. Ty told them so that he could put them against each other. With their powers they could probably kill each other in rage. But right now, all he had to worry about was the journey in the jungle. They walked for what seemed like forever, occasionally stopping for lunch. The two groups exchanged stories of their adventures, and talked about their battles. Jason was a little worried about Emma, though, she seemed to be on edge; like she was hiding something.  
Jason also wondered why Hydi hadn’t wanted Ishmar to tell anyone about their trek to the temple.  
Between all of the friends, James and Fin were the only ones acting normal. They finally found a well hidden jungle temple and went inside. It was not nearly as elegant as Ty’s temple, or big. In fact, it was quite small in comparison, but James went in so everyone followed.   
“I’ve been to a lot of temples, so just follow me and don’t die. The most common mob is silverfish, but sometimes there are spawners,” explained James, in a surprisingly humble voice.  
“Ya, James is the best. We’ve found stuff like diamonds and enchantment books,” admired Fin.  
The little group moved through the temple so far undetected by… what? What could possibly be in here that was so dangerous? Jason knew there were traps and puzzles to figure out so that they could get to the treasure. He didn’t even know why they agreed to accompany these strangers. He started walking slower so he could get out of earshot of the rest of them, and talk to Esau alone. After a few more minutes of walking Jason finally reached Esau.  
“Hey, do you notice how they are kind of keeping us surrounded. It took me forever just to get out of earshot. I don’t think they mean to share that loot,” whispered Jason.  
“Maybe they are just keeping us around like bodyguards, and then they’ll ditch us once we get the treasure,” Esau whispered back.  
“‘Those not to trust’, it could be them,” said Jason, giving Esau a meaningful look.  
“We should pass it on to our friends, no doubt they feel it too,” suggested Esau.  
As they walked, Jason and Esau started talking to their friends, warning them. They tried to do it fluently, and now go undetected from James’ group instead of monsters.   
“Whatcha guys talkin’ ‘bout?” asked Ishmar, [he uses terrible grammar, don’t ever learn from him].  
“Oh, just about how small this temple is compared to others we’ve seen,” replied Eve, her voice shaking a little bit. ‘What if he heard our conversation? I feel so caged in here, the one thing I hate: feeling caged.’ Eve thought. A small, square bead of sweat dripped down the side of her face and onto the cold stone floor. The echo was very loud as it sounded through passageways and chambers; loud enough to draw monsters. Everyone froze, they listened, and then they walked slowly into the next passage. As they followed James, Eve kept an eye out for monsters that might be lurking in the shadows. It was almost like a thriller ‘The group walks down the dark passage, unaware they were being watched. Then a thing jumps out of the darkness and kills them all’, that was a thriller she did not want to see. They kept walking and walking, until finally James put up his hand, signaling them all to stop.   
“Ok guys, we have reached the first trap,” said James.  
The trap had three levers, each side by side. They were three blocks off the ground, with a giant lava pit next to it. Eve guessed one lever would get them across, one would throw them in, and one would set off TNT. This would be a dangerous bet; a bet for their lives. Just when Eve was thinking about going back, she heard a click click and a cobblestone wall fell down behind them. ‘Well, no going back now; I’m committed against my will.’ Eve thought.  
“Don’t worry, I’ve been to lots of jungle temples, I know the lever,” assured James.  
He pulled the middle lever while Eve shut her eyes, waiting for the end. But ‘the end’ never came, nothing did. When she looked up, there was a thin bridge across the lava pit, two blocks wide. They all walked across with ease, but Eve was still on edge. How many traps did James know about? ‘And how many monsters know about us?’ She thought. They continued walking in complete silence; no one dared to say a word, lest monsters come. It was an eerie silence, though, it felt like someone - or something - was watching them, and speaking was a death sentence. Just because they have powers doesn’t make them invincible. After walking a little longer, the passage opened up into a chamber. They all gingerly walked in, careful to look for traps, and monsters. There was nothing… strange. Eve wasn’t wishing for monsters, but it seemed strange that there weren't monsters.  
“Where are the monsters or guardians of the loot?” asked Eve, suspiciously.  
“Well, if you're not happy with free treasure, you could paint a ‘COME EAT ME’ sign,” joked Jack.   
“No, Eve makes a good point. Where are the traps and monsters?” contemplated Leo, thinking aloud.  
“As my brother, do you always have to be a fun-suck, it was a joke,” said Jack, irritated.  
“Guys, chill out, there’s no danger. Let’s just get the chest and go,” said Hydi.  
“Ya, James work your magic,” said Fin.  
James walked over to a corner, pulled out his pickaxe, and started digging. He dug three blocks wide and two blocks deep, uncovering something very dusty. He brought it to the middle of the room where they all marveled at it. When they opened it up there were emeralds galore, there was armor for lots of horses and plenty of food [which now that Eve looked at her health bar, she saw she needed it], and at least fifteen saddles. Emma took the emeralds into her hands, Ishmar took the saddles, Hydi took the food, and Fin took the horse armor. They loosened some stone from the ceiling, grabbed James [who apparently didn’t know what they were doing], and dug out, leaving Eve, Jason, Jack, Mark, Lucas, Leo, and Esau in a pile of gravel that was slowly suffocating them. The friends dug out of the gravel and then sat on the ground .  
“'Those not to trust' how could we not see it?” cried out Leo.  
“My health bar is really low. I needed that food,” complained Eve.  
“We could have upgraded our calvary with the armor and saddles,” said Jason.  
“Those emeralds might have helped us in trading or recruiting villagers,” said Lucas, the only one not in despair.  
“Lucas, why aren’t you sad about this?” asked Jack.  
“Because we survived but lost nothing,” replied Lucas in a wise and knowing voice.  
“He’s right guys, we didn’t lose anything but fake friends,” agreed Mark.  
“Then we can just head out the way we came,” summed up Esau.   
They walked around through the passages retracing steps, and hiding from passing monsters. When they reached the entrance Jack’s arm brushed up against a stone block. ‘That’s strange, I feel letters on it.’ Jack thought.   
“Hey, come here,” beckoned Jack. When all came over, they gasped at the discovery.


	13. The Map to Victory

Jack had found a hidden block! A hidden block was a block that had something valuable inside. It looked like they wouldn’t be leaving the temple empty handed after all.  
“Guys, ‘And find the answer hidden in dust’ this could be it!” exclaimed Leo.  
Jason pulled out his iron pick and began digging and hacking at the block. As he hit it, cracks spread across its surface like a disease. Finally the block broke and it dropped a map; an important map. On the map it showed where they were and how to get to something that appeared to be under water. ‘It must be an ocean monument.’ Jason thought.  
“ Oh, I get it ‘Under the sea shall the treasure lie’” said Jason.  
“Ya, that makes sense,” agreed Leo.  
“Well then, let’s go find us some treasure,” suggested Mark.  
The group walked where the map told them to. Leo was excited about finding an ocean monument, but suddenly he stopped.  
“Wait, if it’s underwater, how do we get there,” questioned Leo.  
“Already covered,” smiled Eve.  
“Maybe for you, but what about us?” asked Leo.  
“Well, we can go to the Nether and get some nether wart for potions,” suggested Jack.  
“What?! We can’t go to the Nether. It’s too dangerous down there,” complained Mark.  
“It appears to be our only option if we want to save the Overworld,” concluded Lucas.  
There was a silent conversation that passed between the members of the group. They all understood that they had to go, and all Leo needed to make potions was nether wart; he didn’t need any other ingredients.   
“It’s settled, we have no other choice. We’re going to the Nether,” said Jason, in a stern voice.  
Leo knew that it was the only way to get what they needed, but he was a little reluctant. ‘It’s a losing cause. Why are you even putting your trust in these people? They don’t look at you the same. They look at you as a little potion pet, to be used. You could go with Ty’s army and see the Overworld taken control of by monsters. Ty’s cause is much better, and he has an army to back him up. He would appreciate you, he would respect you; two things you don’t get with these friends. Join the right side, the side that will be best for you and only you. All you have to do is tell Ty where everyone is, then let them be captured. You won’t be harmed, you can just watch the Overworld be taken. Think about it.’ Leo had no idea where the voice came from, but it wasn’t his conscience. Whatever it was, it was right. His “friends” didn’t respect him or appreciate how much he helped. Even his own brother, Jack, was against him. If the Overworld was taken by monsters, what would he lose? Nothing. But right now all he had to do was tell Ty where they were. ‘Ok, disembodied voice. Tell Ty we are in the northern jungle biome heading into the oak forest biome… and I’m ready to leave Jason and his pathetic soldiers behind.’ Leo thought. ‘Ok, Master.’ The voice replied. ‘Master’, he liked that. Leo was now the Master of a disembodied voice and a monster army. He could sit back and enjoy the view of the fallen Overworld. Why fight for a lost cause right?  
The group kept walking and walking, they talked very little. Jason noticed there were a lot of monsters gathering in the trees, not catching fire because of the shade. He was starting to get worried; more and more vacant black zombie eyes peered at him from the safety of the forest trees.  
“Guys, are you seeing the monsters?” asked Jason.  
“Ya, it’s getting a little weird,” replied Mark, shakily.  
Just as everyone started staring back at the mob of zombies, they charged. Green bodies came out from behind every tree and pile of dirt, all wanting to do the thing they loved: kill.   
Jason raced forward slashing away at the oncoming hoard. The others joined in quickly, fighting for their lives; all except Leo. Nobody noticed Leo sneaking around behind the zombies, slowly edging away from the battle. As Jason hacked at one zombie another came up behind him and found a hole in his armor. Fiery pain climbed up his left arm,and he spun around and slashed at the monster, rendering it of its HP. Jason cradled his injured arm for a moment, but soon forgot it as he continued fighting. Lucas, though, was kicking green zombie butt… literally. He kicked one zombie away then slashed at another, wounding it, and one zombie tried to sneak up behind him, but was quickly vanquished. Lucas’ fast sword was a blur as he slashed and sliced through the mob. Mark, however, was not doing so well. He was surrounded by five zombies who were overpowering him. He lashed out at one of them, but the one next to it attacked him.   
“Get a partner and fight back to back,” ordered Jason.  
Mark and Eve partnered and were suddenly the nightmare of the battle field. Eve jabbed and Mark blocked, then Mark slashed and Eve blocked. They were in perfect sync with each other. Jason and Esau were back to back fighting like old time buddies. They took out zombie after zombie, becoming a whirlwind of death. The zombies practically ran away from the two of them [except for the fact that zombies can’t run]. When Lucas and Jack paired up, it was all over for the zombies. The three pairs mowed the mob like lawn. Every zombie was cut down, every green body fell; they left no survivors. Leo came down from his tree with his sword out to make it look like he had been fighting with them. The ground was littered with XP orbs and rotten flesh.They kept walking as if nothing had happened; and to them nothing did. No one would ever know that battle took place. It would be a lost memory forever, and would never be found out by anyone.  
“Jason, how did monsters get created?” Eve asked.  
“Well, when Notch created Minecraft, he made it peaceful. But Herobrine, an evil virus, came into the game and corrupted it, morphing all the creatures touching shadow, into the nightmares of the world. Pigs turned to creepers, cows turned to spiders, sheep turned to zombies, etc. The villages were getting raided by the monsters, so villagers decided to fight back. All the villagers in Minecraft made an army, and began their plans. They fought back the monsters in The Fight for Minecraft; more commonly known as our first Overworld War. Most monsters escaped to either the Nether or The End. But the remaining monsters repopulated the Overworld, but not as many monsters as before. Herobrine was erased from Minecraft and back to the Internet, where he couldn’t get back in. Kyrobrine - Herobrine’s brother - continued the work of his sibling. Nobody knows where Kyrobrine is now, but the monsters of the Overworld forever continue their master’s work in torturing villagers,” explained Jason.  
“Thank you, Professor Jason, for that long and boring speech. May we go to recess now?” mocked Esau.   
They walked into a clearing in the forest and pulled out the obsidian they had collected before this all happened. Jason had no idea how through all this, they managed to keep obsidian in their inventory. They built the portal and lit the inside with flint and steel. They stepped through the purple film and into the Nether.


	14. The Nether Battle

When the purple particles cleared from Jason’s view, he couldn’t help but gasp. It was a beautiful sight with the lava falls and oceans, the tall netherrack spires, even the fires that spontaneously popped up here and there were beautiful. It was an awe striking scene; except for the monsters. There were blazes, ghasts, magma cubes, zombie pigmen, and wither skeletons. Even more dangerous monsters that had evolved after living here for so long.   
“Hey, this looks nice and dangerous, right up our alley,” joked Mark, though his voice was shaking.  
“Ok guys, we just need to find the nether fortress and get the nether wart. Then we’re out of here,” said Jason.  
“It’s never that simple,” said Lucas.  
Almost like it heard him, a ghast floated down and shot a fireball at Jason. His reflexes took over and Jason hit the flaming ball with his sword; it ricocheted off his blade right back at the ghast.  
“Take that you over inflated gas bag!” screamed Jack, patting Jason on the back.  
The ghast didn’t die, though, it just got angry. It shot another fireball at the group and this time Jason just dodged it.   
“Bows!” shouted Jason, pulling out his bow and notching an arrow.  
When they shot, it was like a steel rain, and came down upon the ghast like thunder. The fiery creature gave a feline-like cry and disappeared. It dropped a ghast tear and some XP orbs.  
“Well, we killed our first Nether monster,” said Jason happily.  
“Ya, but look around. I think its friends know we’re here now,” said Leo with worry.  
They headed toward the… what? Where were they heading? After all, there is no direction in the Nether; that’s why a compass won’t work. Jason saw a structure looming out of the darkness, but why was it dark? There was so much glowstone everywhere, it couldn’t be dark. Then Jason realized it was because the fortress was made of dark nether brick.  
The fortress was huge, with several stories and walkways leading to hundreds of different rooms. There were blazes everywhere along the catwalks, and in the rooms. Jason knew one of the rooms held treasure inside of it. There were probably spawners inside the fortress as well, but he didn’t want to find out.  
“We aren’t going in there, are we?” asked Mark.  
“I don’t think we should,” replied Jason.  
“Ya, let’s keep it simple,” agreed Eve.  
“Then let’s get the nether wart and get out of here,” said Leo, impatiently.  
They walked up to the steps only to be greeted by two blazes.  
“Can you guys leave us alone?” Jason asked, desperately.  
To his surprise they answered back.  
“That is unlikely,” said one of them in a scratchy, smoky voice.  
“We have a duty and a promise to this fortress,” said the other in a mechanical voice.  
“We don’t want to go in, just to collect some nether wart,” reasoned Lucas.  
“Don’t want to go in, ay?” questioned the first blaze.  
“I suppose if you just collect and leave we won’t harm you,” said the second blaze.  
“Thank you so much,” said Jason, relieved.  
They collected what they came for and started for their portal. The air was starting to bother Jason, it was smokey and dry. When it reached his lungs it felt like acid, he started choking on the air, as did the others. The portal came into view and they started running for it; but the wither skeletons thought otherwise. The black, boney nightmares charged the group before they could get to their portal. Jason knew that they each were formidable opponents; their stone swords had just been sharpened too. The glow from the lava illuminated the skeletons’ smokey faces, making them appear to be smiling… creepy. Jason ran up to one of them and slashed with his enchanted diamond sword; to his surprise the creature blocked it.  
“We are not dumb like our brethren of the Overworld,” laughed one of them.  
Now Jason was sure their inky black faces were smiling. Lucas ran up to another skeleton and feigned a hit, then jabbed, hitting the monster square in the boney gut. The creature flew backward and landed with a thud, then disappeared.  
“Creatures of smoke and flame destroyed my village and then laughed!” shouted Lucas in rage.  
“MINECRAFT!” screamed Jason, and he charged in, as did the others.  
They fought like death itself, with their iridescent blue blades. Diamond Lightning [which, if you don’t remember, is the name of Jason’s blade] felt great in Jason’s hand as he cleaved through the mob. He kicked one, then rolled to the side as another one swung it’s blade. He came up slashing and vanquished another living nightmare. Eve ran around randomly hitting monsters in the back and arms, making some of them drop their swords. Jack and Mark were fighting one at a time, overpowering them with two on one maneuvers. Leo decided to fight as well since they probably weren’t under the command of Ty. They killed all of the wither skeletons in about an hour. While they were celebrating their victory, and getting ready to go back to their home, the Overworld, another wither skeleton came toward them. This one, though, was wearing an iron chestplate and helmet, and carried an enchanted iron sword. Jason ran at the monster and knocked it into the lava.   
“Jason, the skeleton captain slayer!” cheered Mark, which made them all laugh.  
Then the skeleton emerged from the lava unharmed, and all of their mouths hung open.   
“You think you can kill a creature of power and flame with lava? Ha!” smirked the skeleton captain, “That’s how we were made.”  
All of the friends readied their swords; seven to one. Except it wasn’t seven to one. The captain made a low growling sound. It was a guttural sound that made the ground slightly shake. But it wasn’t the growl making the ground shake, it was the army of wither skeletons that appeared on a nearby netherrack hill.  
“I’m thinking we should go through the portal,” said Leo. They ran to the safety of their portal, and one by one, stepped through as an army of skeletons charged at them. When the sun appeared on the other side of the portal, they closed off the entry. But it wasn’t much better in the Overworld either. There was an army of skeletons waiting there for them.  
“We have come to avenge our king!” one skeleton shouted.  
“How did they find us?” questioned Jack.  
“Because of me,” admitted Leo with a smile. He walked over to the skeleton army, pleased that his “friends” would get what they deserved. The army grabbed all of the people there; all but one. Jason did what any brave leader would do when they’re up against an army of skeletons and their friends are captured… he fled.


	15. Rescue Mission

Ca-Len had been walking around with his brothers for a while, trying to find a good place to sit down. They had been looking for the other group for a long time, and were tired. Villagers were strange creatures, but they wanted peace in the Overworld; that was all that mattered. Ca-Len just wanted to be happy, that’s why he joined Ty’s army. He had thought that Ty wanted to bring the monsters and villagers together to make the Overworld peaceful again. They were soon taught that this was not the case, though. Now all Ca-Len wanted was to help the villagers in their endeavors to give freedom to all creatures. The zombies really could be a peaceful race when they wanted to. But now, their friends were nowhere to be found. What could have happened to them; maybe they died. Ca-Len couldn’t think about that, he just needed to find them in one piece. His brothers had the same thoughts, so they set off in search.  
They didn’t get very far before they heard a rustling in a nearby bush. The brothers took their swords out and stood in a circle, ready for anything. But before they could even make a move, Jason jumped out of the bush sweaty, panting, and ragged. They all lowered their swords and walked over to him.  
“What happened?” asked Ce-Len.  
“They’re gone. They were captured. I was useless, and I ran,” pantted Jason, clearly shaken.  
“It’s ok, sometimes a tactical retreat is best,” reassured Ca-Len who had been working on his english.  
“No, this time it’s not ok. I left my team to die… no, to suffer. What kind of leader am I if I just let them get captured?” sulked Jason.  
“We will get them back,” smiled Ci-Len.  
Ca-Len was now very aware of Jason’s insecurities, or at least one of them. Jason feared he couldn’t lead right, Ca-Len could relate. He had watched his parents and friends killed as he was taken to Ty’s fortress. He felt terrible about all of the things he had ever done, all the people he had tortured, all of it for what? Maybe it was to hide his pain, his helplessness; he had to watch out for his brothers now.   
“You, Jason, will get another chance to lead. Redeem yourself by leading the rescue mission,” said Ca-Len.  
Jason stood a little taller and walked with confidence in every step now; he couldn’t afford to be scared or timid. It was time to look brave, even if he just wanted to go home to the safety of his bed. Jason took the time to formulate a plan as they walked. There were only four of them,and five to save.  
“Oh,guys, I forgot to tell you,” Jason started,but was cut off.  
“What, what is it?” stuttered Ce-Len, unaware he had interrupted Jason.  
“Leo, h-he sort of… flipped,” said Jason with sadness in his eyes.  
“What do you mean ‘flipped’?” asked Ci-Len curiously.  
“I mean he went to Ty’s side,” said Jason.  
“What?!” the brothers screamed in unison.  
They walked in silence for a while, talking about Leo just made Jason feel like an even more irresponsible leader. How could he be backstabbed by his own friend? They had been through so much in such little time. Did Leo leave them because Jason was a bad leader? All of these questions bounced around in Jason’s head for awhile.They were approaching the place where their friends were being held; and tortured. The small group of four readied their weapons for battle. The iridescent purple light that came from Jason’s sword lit the dark passageways two or three blocks in front of them. As they walked through the dark hall, Jason couldn’t help thinking they were being watched by something big… really big. But he reconsidered and dismissed it as just his imagination. He kept his eyes open for monsters, but none came; he thought that was a little strange. Suddenly, the tunnel opened up into a cavern about ten blocks high and fifty blocks wide.   
“Duck!” whispered Jason.  
They all ducked behind an uneven rock in the wall. Two endermen - probably guards - walked past them.  
“Hey, when do you think that pathetic NPC and his zombie pets will come?” one asked in a scratchy, high pitched voice.  
“When the time's right. Hopefully at lunch,” answered the other enderman. Then he let loose a spine tingling laugh that made all the hairs on Jason’s body stand straight up.  
The endermen teleported away eventually, leaving Jason and company in the cave… alone. They trudged on, cold and wet, since there had been a leak in the cavern. Three zombies and a villager; not a promising fight, but it was Jason’s job as leader to help his fellow soldiers. They came to a fork in the passages, but Jason was not willing to split up.  
“What do we do? We can’t split,” asked Ca-Len.  
“We go left,” answered Jason, though he was unsure, “And here, put these on.”  
Jason handed the three zombies some leather armor dyed black. The armor would be like spy ware, and hopefully keep them undetected. They continued to move through the passageways quickly and quietly. Occasionally they had to stop for a rogue monster to pass by so that they could keep going. Jason still had the lingering feeling that something huge was watching them, but regardless, they kept moving. On and on, through the tunnels until they finally came to a chamber; and a big one at that. The group moved through cautiously, looking for trip wires or pressure plates. Suddenly, they heard groaning and mumbling.  
“Go back, it’s a trap!” screamed a familiar voice.  
Jason couldn’t quite place who it was; then he thought of it.  
“Run!” he screamed to the others.  
They all started running for the exit, but a wall of gravel fell in front of them. There would be no way to go around or dig through it; they were trapped.  
“Who said that?” Ce-Len asked Jason.  
“It was Mark,” replied Jason. Then their friends appeared out of the darkness as a torch was placed.Something else appeared to, though.   
“What is that thing?!” yelled Ci-Len as the thing got closer.  
“THING! I AM NOT A THING. I AM THE KING OF ALL ZOMBIES, AND I DEMAND ONE OF TWO THINGS: EITHER SURRENDER, OR GIVE ME YOUR HEAD!” the zombie shreaked. The king was five times bigger than any normal zombie, and five times smellier. It charged at them swinging an enchanted iron sword. The zombie showed no fear… or mercy. He hit Ce-Len across the room waking Jason from his daze. Jason pulled out his sword and thrust it over his head just in time to block an attack. But the force of the blade sent pain up and down Jason’s arm. It was hopeless; he was going to die.


	16. Rescue Gone Wrong

As Jason tried desperately to hold up his sword against the attack, he could feel his grip loosening; he was about to drop his sword. Ce-Len was struggling to stand over in the corner where he had landed. Ci-Len rushed over to help, sword drawn, and swung at the zombie. The king moved away just in time, but at least he was off of Jason’s arm. Ca-Len had sneaked up behind the zombie and prepared to lung at him, but Ca-Len kicked a pebble; a very loud pebble.   
“Ha! Think you can sneak up behind me? I can crush you all like silverfish,” gloated the zombie king.  
He ran toward Ca-Len and thrust his sword hilt into Ca-Len’s stomach. The lesser zombie stood for a moment, and then wilted to the floor in an unconscious puddle. Again Ci-Len ran over to strike the zombie,but was stopped short in his attempt by a blade narrowly missing his face. The sword flew past and struck the king in the gut. Ci-Len turned around to see Ce-Len standing there with rage in his eyes.  
“NO ONE TOUCHES MY BROTHERS!” screamed Ce-Len.  
“You, zombie king, have no pure essence. Your soul is evil.That is your weakness,” said Jason.  
“AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!” yelled the zombie as he stood with his enchanted sword in his right, and the biggest fist Jason had ever seen in his life, for his left.  
Suddenly, Jason got an idea. TNT in his hand and a smile on his face, he pulled out a torch and yelled, “Light ‘em up.”  
Everyone ran to the wall and boom! BOOM! BOOM! The zombie king wasn’t dead, but he sure was hurt after that. An army of zombies came in and carried their king out, they didn’t even attack.  
“Are you guys ok?” Jason asked.  
“Ya we’re fine,” came the reply.  
Jason came over to the cage, stuck his sword in the lock, and then smashed it until the cage door opened.  
“Thank you so much,” said Jack with gratitude.  
“Ya, thanks,” agreed Eve.  
Esau just ran up and gave Jason a hug. Then Lucas came out, but instead of being joyous he looked sad and depressed. The turning of Leo had affected him the greatest. They all dug through the gravel and emerged in the tunnels on the other side. Once they saw daylight again, all of them felt better.  
“What now?” asked Mark.  
“We go kick Ty’s and Leo’s butt,” answered Jason.  
They managed to get horses and they all began the long journey to the jungle temple.  
“What was it you were saying earlier about pure essence Jason?” asked Eve.  
“Pure essence is the energy in any pure living thing’s body. It can be used to kill anything that is evil because it overwhelms every nerve in that body,” explained Jason.  
“So we could kill him?” asked Jack.  
“Yes, but at the expense of the expeller's life,” confirmed Jason.


	17. The Expense of Trust

Ty paced back and forth, waiting for his new ‘friend’ to arrive. Leo wasn’t exactly the person he wanted as a partner, but for now, that was all he had. First a test would have to be conducted,though, to see who’s side he was really on.  
“Trust is delicate like the last animal of some kind. If not taken care of it will die, and there will be no way to bring it back,” he mumbled to himself.  
“Indeed, and whatever I can do to prove my worth, no matter the risk, I am willing to partake in,” reassured a man that walked into the chamber.  
“Hello, you must be Leo. Welcome to your true purpose… brother,” welcomed Ty,faking pleaser in the fact that Leo had arrived.  
“No need to be formal, I am here to see the Overworld ruled by monsters. I am just as reluctant to have a … partner, as you are,” empathized Leo.  
“You have a test to complete first, though,” said Ty.  
“Of course,” replied Leo knowingly.  
Ty snapped his blocky fingers and a zombie came out of the darkness carrying a villager. When the villager saw Leo he thought Leo might rescue him; he was very wrong.   
“You know what you must do,” said Ty.  
Leo approached the villager and drew his sword. Ty smiled maliciously. As Leo walked toward the villager, he let his sword drop a little; just enough to be at heart level. A look of pure horror spread across the villager's face.   
“No, stop! You don't have to do this!” pleaded the villager.  
Leo didn't say anything, he just kept moving forward. He raised his sword and then lunged at the villager several times. The last memory of the villager was his screaming, then he disappeared with a pop. His inventory spilled onto the floor and Leo went to go pick it up.  
“Bravo, bravo! Well done, your worth is well received,” said Ty evilly.  
“Well now that that's settled, what do we do next?” asked Leo.  
“We go and command our army.”  
“Very well, my friend.”  
The two exited the chamber into the main part of the temple. All the monsters seemed to have gathered there.  
“Monsters! Obey your new master. He is the one who stands beside me,” commaded Ty.  
Monsters of all kinds bowed to Leo and Ty. ‘It is wonderful. This is what respect looks like! I will be behind them one hundred percent. Jason will fall and monsters will rise.’ Thought Leo.   
Later Ty entered an even darker room than the one he had. It was hidden behind a rock wall, and nobody but him could reach it.  
“Master, I am breaking them apart,” reported Ty into the darkness.  
Something hit him so hard he fell backwards and slammed into the floor.  
“You are, as in you're still doing it? I told you to hurry up with it. They must not find out about our plans or the Void Armor. You have to stop them!” explained a disembodied voice.  
Ty knew exactly where the voice was coming from. His master was anything but merciful.  
“I have turned one to our side already. I have also put a small dent in their militia,” said Ty.  
“Use your power if you must. Whatever it takes, just stop them!” screamed a voice from the darkness.  
“Yes, Master, as you command,” said Ty as he bowed.  
Then he closed the hollowed out wall and went back to stand with Leo.  
“Don't worry Leo, your so-called friends, will be disposed of soon,” reassured Ty.   
“Wonderful. I would love nothing more than to see them disappear,” said Leo.  
The two new acquaintances set out into the chamber. They knew they had to come up with a plan.  
“They have a map to an underwater treasure,” informed Leo.  
“Most likely an Ocean Monument,” guessed Ty.  
“If we cut them off underwater, we can take whatever the treasure is,” continued Leo.  
“I suppose we could use drowned,” suggested Ty.  
“Drowned?” questioned Leo.  
“Drowned zombies. They are very persistent and become even more so, when they can swim,” explained Ty.  
“Those sound wonderfully fit. They shall have a place in our army.”  
“Yes, indeed they will.”  
Ty had no idea how Leo could get so comfortable in his spot of power immediately. Although, he did admire it.  
“We shall do quite well together,” said Ty.  
“Indeed we will,” agreed Leo.  
Leo guessed that Ty's fancy speaking was a sign of his place of power.  
“How did you become commander over all the monsters?” asked Leo.  
Ty hesitated before saying, “When I was a boy, all the village kids would trick me into coming to the edge of the village. Every day I would go out there, and every day the village kids would come and beat me up. Punches, kicks, throwing me on the ground; anything to keep me down. One day I tried to fight back, I got even more injured. Night came and the monsters found me. They took me back to their cave and helped me heal. Every day I would go and play with the monsters, and they became my friends. The village kids came looking for me, and then, they were zombies. I didn’t even mean to do it, but I had moaned twice and hit a kid. That is a signal for help in monster language. It was the sweetest revenge ever, though. I went through the whole village enlarging the group of zombies and getting supplies for them. Now I do it every other day, and it feels great.”   
‘That is terrible, but if it hadn’t happened would we be here right now? Would I be here, commanding a monster army, by Ty’s side if that hadn’t happened? My brother makes me bitter, he would deserve to be conquered.’ Thought Leo.  
“We should have drowned follow Jason and company down to the Ocean Monument, then capture them, take the treasure, and get back to the surface where the rest of the army will be waiting,” suggested Leo.  
“That plan sounds good and arrow proof,” agreed Ty.   
He went and confirmed the plan with all the monster kings and queen; except the forever missing Ziflan.  
“That can be easily arranged,” said the fully recovered zombie king.  
“Yes, that will be done quickly," agreed Enderman100.  
The rulers all went their separate ways to accomplish their tasks.  
“This is gonna be good,” said Leo as he laughed quietly to himself.  
“No, my friend,” corrected Ty as he walked back over, “This is gonna be great.”  
The monster rulers all got together around a small diorama of the plan.  
“So the plan is to secretly follow the group to the ocean shore, hide in the forest as they go out to sea, and then tell the drowned to follow them,” clarified Al-Oks moving the pieces around to represent what he had explained.  
“Then when the drowned reach the ocean floor they follow behind, but ssstay out of sssight, then they attack once the sssmall group findsss what we want,” continued the spider queen dragging out her s.  
“Then they bring the chest up to the surface where our armies will be waiting just in case things don’t go as planned,” shrieked Enderman100.  
“I wonder what’s in the chest,” speculated Al-Oks.  
“Well, whatever it may be, we know we must turn it in to Master Ty,” Enderman100 said.  
“Have you noticed him acting jumpy lately?” asked the spider queen.  
“Yes, he’s been a little distracted too,” said the giant zombie.  
“And he’sss had quite a few more ssscrapesss and bruisssesss,” noticed the queen.  
“Well, we can’t dig too far into it, or you know what he’ll do,” said Enderman100 nervously.  
They all started looking around worried their merciless master might hear their conversation of discovery. The plan was set, though. That was all that mattered, and it was ready to be carried out.


	18. Under the Sea

“Hey, guys! I think I found where the entrance to the sea is!” yelled Mark.  
“ Mark, the sea doesn't have an entrance. You can enter it from anywhere,” corrected Jack.  
“No, he means according to the map,” Esau said, a little annoyed.  
They all ran over to the spot where Mark pointed. It looked different than the other spots of entrance. It wasn't flat like the other places, it was more of a hollow in the ground.  
“I thought we were going to the Jungle Temple,” questioned Eve.  
“First we need to see what's down there in that Ocean Monument,” said Jason.  
“It's an Ocean Monument? Did I miss a conversation? I feel like I did,” asked Eve, confused.  
Without warning the ground Eve was standing on sank, and she fell into the water.   
“Eve!” Mark yelled.  
She came back up almost immediately.  
“I can breathe underwater… so,” Eve said.  
Mark's face grew red.   
“I… was just worried you would drown,” said Mark.  
They kept walking around making sure there was no more sand. Nobody who couldn't breathe underwater wanted to sink. The zombies were going to stay behind and protect the rendezvous point.  
“I think it's alright now,” said Jason as they finished scouting.  
They looked at the map one more time, then they all got into position. When Jason drank his underwater breathing and night vision potions he felt his body reacting. It felt like all of the nerves in his body were awake. Then the team dived under the water. Jason didn't realize he was holding his breath until he opened his eyes. It was beautiful! There were dolphins, sea turtles, tropical fish, shipwrecks, coral, kelp, sea pickles, and sea lanterns. They all followed Jason down to the ocean floor and to the monument. When they put on their armor each of them were weighed down, but it was necessary to fight the Guardians and Elder Guardians. They moved forward and the monument came into view. It was huge, blue, and monster infested; the Guardians were all over the place. Jason knew they had gone over the plan too many times to count, but he didn’t feel any better about it. They had planned for drowned and Elder Guardians and Guardians, but it was nerve racking being down there.  
The first spiny monster approached, then another, and another. Jason got his sword ready, as did everyone else. Even if he didn’t have his powers yet, he would fight like the Overworld depended on it; and it did. He thrusted and jabbed and he sliced and cut until the first one was destroyed. The next one came at Jack who took a stab at it, but before it disappeared, it hit him with its tail spines. The Guardian dropped XP and one prismarine shard which Jack promptly grabbed. Esau was surprised by the last monster and tried to light his fire, but it was quickly extinguished by the water, Lucas came to his aid and killed the monster receiving XP and cod. Jason had so much adrenaline rushing through his body that it felt like he would explode.   
Regardless of the attack the group kept moving. Through tunnels and halls and ocean corridors they walked. Once they turned into a room and found a nest of sleeping Guardians. They slowly backed out and kept moving. One of the tunnels led straight into a giant room with sponges all over it. They all gasped for breath when they walked in.  
“Jason how come we can all breathe now?” Jack asked.  
“Because the sponges sucked up all the water in here, but they left enough oxygen to make an air pocket so we can all breathe naturally and talk,” said Jason, in a matter-of-fact way.  
“Hey, guys, when you’re done babbling like little kids over there you might want to see this,” suggested Eve in an urgent tone.  
Everyone came over, and with oohs and aahs they all stared down the hole that led straight through the heart of the monument. One after another they each drank they’re potions (except for Eve) and jumped down the hole. They all slowly floated to the bottom and landed softly with the only sound being bloop bloop. Once or twice a tropical fish swam by Eve and would nuzzle her until she stopped petting it. It was almost like she was drawing the fish to her. Using the sign language they created they began to communicate underwater.  
I was thinking about the prophecy, and if there is a Battle of the Key, then what is the Key? asked Mark without opening his mouth.  
The Key is said to be the transportation mode to get someone from one server to another, Jason signed, But it is only a myth… right?  
Well, I guess we’ll find out, signed Lucas.  
Jason couldn’t tell what Lucas’s tone was, but he guessed he was terrified and curious. They walked for another little while and occasionally stopped to sign something to each other, but other than that they just kept moving. Eventually they came to a room filled with prismarine columns and a prismarine structure in the middle of the room holding a chest in it. They moved over to the chest and opened it. Instead of riches and treasure, a bright beam of light shot straight up to the ceiling and went through it all the way up to the sky.  
The Key! This must be it, signed Jason, so excited he almost screamed.  
“I can’t believe we found it!” screamed Eve. [She could do that since she could breathe underwater… lucky.]  
They closed the chest and Jason put it into his inventory. That’s when things went wrong. Out of nowhere an Elder Guardian swam through a hidden opening in the wall and from the tunnel they had come from, a flood of drowned poured into the space.  
“They must have followed us here,” said Eve as she readied her sword.  
I have an idea, signed Jason.  
He took out some cobblestone he had brought with him and sealed the hole that the Elder Guardian had come from.  
You just sealed him in with us, complained Mark.  
Just wait, signed Jason.  
Then taking out some sponges he had collected earlier, he placed four around the room and waited. Just as both sides of the oncoming monsters clashed the room seemed to get more clear and the Elder Guardian flopped to the ground and started writhing in agony. He then took one last malicious look at everyone in the room and disappeared with a pop.  
Jason your brilliant, you sucked all the water out of the room so the Elder Guardian couldn’t live, signed Esau.  
“Esau, the water’s gone, you can stop using sign language,” chided Jack.  
That didn’t stop the drowned though, they just walked over and started attacking. In no time Jason, Esau, Mark, Eve, Jack, and Lucas all had their swords out and where fighting drowned. Some drowned had tridents, some had shells, and some had nothing, but they fought hard.


	19. Preparations

There were about fifty drowned and only six of them, fighting like no tomorrow. Mark ran around attacking wherever he could. Eve called a blockade of fish to make sure no more drowned got in. Lucas fought about ten of the seaweed covered monsters at once. Jack was throwing big chunks of the ocean floor at the monsters. Esau started lighting drowned on fire and watching them wobble over and extinguish their butt’s in the water from the tunnel. Jason was the only one who couldn’t use his powers yet, he really hoped he would unlock his lightning soon. Although he didn’t have powers, Jason still fought hard, and he may not have been as experienced in battle as Lucas, but he was better at strategic battle. While Lucas moved fast to dodge and then swung his sword to hit, Jason dodged and swung in specific places at specific times. He tried his best but couldn’t help feeling like as leader he should be better, like he should be able to take on all the drowned and defeat them by himself. He fought on anyway, no matter how good he was it wouldn’t matter if he ended up dead. They pushed the drowned back and pinned them against a wall. There were only fifteen left now… ten… five.  
“We won!” screamed Eve.  
“Not yet,” said Jason.  
“What do you mean?” asked Mark.  
“There will probably be a lot of monsters, an army, waiting for us at the surface,” guessed Lucas.  
“Do we have to fight them too?” complained Jack.  
“Of course we do,” clarified Esau, annoyed.  
“And we also have our zombie friends, our militia, and most of our powers, so I think we will do pretty well,” said Jason.  
“All I’m saying is we could avoid the, And as your journey ends one shall die / And one a sacrifice after final cry, and nobody would die,” said Jack.  
“No, we aren’t leaving the rest of Minecraft to fend of an army of monsters. Minecraft gave us abilities for a reason, let’s show everyone what that reason is,” chided Jason.   
“Great inspirational speech. What now?” asked Jack, clearly annoyed.  
They all followed Jason up to the water’s surface as he explained the plan. One by one their heads popped out of the water and they swam to the shore. Once they got there each of them took a small break and then drew their swords and headed into the deep forest. At a sprint they rushed through the forest. Jason’s mind was buzzing, but he could still hear the many sounds of the forest. The scuttle of hidden spiders, the small hiss of camouflaged creepers, the flutter of bats in the many caverns which opened up all over the forest. As they sprinted Jason tried to focus on dodging trees, but he couldn’t help thinking that he might not have a future, he might never step foot in jungles or forests or any place ever again. What would it feel like to die? Would he die? Would his plan work? He couldn’t not think about all the endless possibilities. What if it wasn’t him who died but one of his friends. Jason didn’t think he could live with the guilt if that happened.   
‘A victory isn’t a victory at all unless no blood is spilled.’ Thought Jason, but they moved on, each thinking about what would happen to the other.  
When they reached the rendezvous point, they were all surprised to see that it wasn’t complete chaos.  
“No attacks?” asked Jason.  
“Not so far, sir, but we captured three zombies. They were the scouts, but that’s all we could get them to say,” reported one of the soldiers in the militia.  
It was so sad because Jason actually remembered this man, he had owned a farm back at their village. Now he had to put his life on the line to fight a hopeless battle. Jason knew they were outnumbered ten to one. He also knew that he would never see this man again after the battle, and by the look in the farmer’s eyes, Jason guessed he knew it too.  
“Thanks for the report, and you don’t have to call me sir if you don’t want to,” said Jason, he didn’t choose to be a leader and he wasn’t going to pretend he was a good one either.  
“Okay, sir,” replied the villager respectfully.  
Jason put two blocks under him so he was above the crowd.  
“Okay everybody, may I have your attention please! I know you’re all nervous, I am too, and we are outnumbered by a lot, this is a pretty hopeless battle. But if my plan is carried out properly, I think we can make it through this. It will take a lot of hard work and swordplay. I’m not going to ask you all to do this, if you don’t want to fight you can back out now,” Jason waited to see if anyone would back out, no one did, “You are all very brave to stay here, but now understand, it is very likely we will all die so make sure you know what you're doing. If you do fight, remember the plan. This is your last chance to leave.”   
“Do you want us to leave?” asked one villager.  
“Ya it’s almost like you want us to go.”  
“Ya, we’re staying.”  
“I’m ready to fight.”  
“No, I’m ready to fight under Jason’s command.”  
“Ya, our brave leader Jason.”  
“JASON!”  
“JASON!”  
“JASON!”  
A cheer went up and before he knew it, everyone was chanting Jason’s name.   
He explained the plan to everyone and they all set to work. Group one made obsidian, group two mined it, group three started building what Jason instructed. Esau was teaching the archers how to shoot better, Lucas was teaching the calvary how to do swordplay, Jack was showing some builders how to build traps, and Mark was teaching some younger helpers how to contribute to the fight by loader dispensers with arrows and making armor and weapons. Eve was placing traps in the moat since she was the only one who could stay underwater long enough to place them.  
Everything was going exactly as Jason planned. The special trap was set for the monster rulers, the cavalry and archers were trained and in place, all the dispensers were loaded and ready to fire. Outside the wall that they had built for defence in a clearing, the murder holes - holes three blocks deep for monsters to fall into - were all dug, and the plan was ready to be carried out.  
“What now Jason?” Jack asked anxiously.  
“Now, we wait for them to strike. Then we fight like Notch is watching,” said Jason, ready for battle. He may not have had his powers, but he was going to fight like his life depended on it; because it did.


	20. Then There Were Eight

When the first wave hit, they were ready. The zombies fell into the murder holes and the archers rained fire on them. About twenty pointed arrow shafts found decaying flesh, and the zombies screamed out in pain. Then, knowing the holes were there, the skeletons didn’t move any closer. They just stood there and stared, nobody moved. The bony creatures became like statues, not a single one even flinched.  
“What are they waiting for?” asked Eve.  
All of a sudden, endermen came out of nowhere,purple particles floated around them as they appeared. Each one of them held a block of dirt in their lanky arms. They filled in the holes with the dirt and then disappeared.   
When they came back again Jason screamed, “Everybody, look down!”  
The entire militia looked down so they wouldn’t provoke the endermen to fight. When the endermen finished filling in the murder holes that sprinkled the field, everyone looked up. Now a lot more monsters were coming out of the jungle and into the moonlit field. Jason held up his blocky hand in a fist, then lowered it signaling the archers to draw their special bows. All the archers drew shining bows that cast a fluorescent bluish purple light on the defence wall in front of them. They opened fire on the zombies, but instead of just normal arrows, flaming arrows flew down on the zombies and occasionally skeletons.  
When the zombies were all dispatched, the next wave of monsters came. This time they were all creepers, with the skeletons hanging back shooting badly aimed arrows at villagers on the wall.  
“Hold your fire!” commanded Jason in a shockingly calm voice.  
All the villagers stopped firing immediately. They watched as the mottled green beasts scuttled over the field. Once the creatures reached the moat and fell in, the villagers once more rained flaming arrows on them. When the flame reached the green monsters bodies, the creepers started their ignition process. It began a chain reaction so that, within a minute, all the creepers were gone. Jason could tell that the monsters were getting angrier. They slowly crawled back into the jungle trees to regroup.  
“They will be back soon, so we can take a break. Charlie, Logan, go ahead and keep watch, just in case they come back,” Jason ordered.  
All the villagers couldn’t help being happy that no one had died yet. They were all very excited to put the rest of the plan into action.  
“Hey Jason, there you are,” said Esau,moving through the crowd, “I wanted to ask you something.”  
“What is it?” asked Jason, furrowing his brow in worry.  
“Oh, nothing is wrong,I just wanted to ask you, is there any other way to get to other servers?” Esau questioned.  
“Well, theoretically, yes. If you collect enough XP you could be booted up to the next server… theoretically. It happens to players, but a villager has never tried,” Jason said, sounding less sure of himself.  
“Do you think it’s possible?” asked Esau.  
“I-” Jason started to say.  
“Zombies and spiders approaching from the north,” yelled Logan.  
“Skeletons and creepers approaching from the east,” screamed Charlie.  
All the villagers began to panic. They all reached for their swords and started to curse. Jason didn’t even know some of those words existed.  
“Calm down. This is exactly the reaction the monsters are hoping for, panic. The archers will get in position and shoot normal arrows down on the zombies and spiders. The creepers won’t be much of a problem if we light ‘em up in the moat. The skeletons will have to be met with return fire, and cavalry, get ready. We’re going to cut down any remaining zombies and spiders,” commanded Jason trying to rally his troops.  
Everyone got into position quickly and without complaint. First the archers fired down on the zombies and spiders. Then the second group of archers lit the creepers and caused a chain reaction of useless explosions. Next the archers all came to one spot to fire down on the skeletons, while the cavalry rode out to meet the remaining zombies and spiders.  
Jason was still wearing the enchanted armor the zombies had given him, and wielding Diamond Lightning. He slashed and parried and jabbed and cut, fighting from atop his horse. He still had no idea where the militia had managed to get all the horses, but as long as they had horses, he didn’t really care. Out of the corner of his eye, Jason could see Lucas fighting several zombies and spiders at once while the soldiers around him were picking off one at a time. Suddenly, Jason felt a jolt and he fell forward, straight into a group of monsters.He came up fighting and was relieved when two other soldiers came over and helped him up. He looked over at his palomino horse and discovered an arrow in her left thigh. Jason carried his horse back to their base to be treated and then promptly ran back out to continue fighting. When they had defeated the last of the monsters, they all retreated back to the base to get a good look at what was coming next.  
“Prepare the trap! Get the next horses ready! This is not going to be an easy fight!” shouted Jason as the villagers scrambled to do what he said.  
They all stared in terror at the approaching zombie. He was the size of three zombies, with arms as thick as Jason’s entire body, and a shimmering gold sword. It was Al-Oks, fully recovered and very angry. He looked like he had just won a war against a hundred people. His smile was crooked and his teeth were awful, everybody could smell his decaying body from one hundred yards away. He raised his sword high to show off his power, then stuck it through the ground.  
All the monsters moaned and cheered and clicked and made generally terrifying sounds.  
“Jason, it's not ready yet, we need at least ten more minutes. Some of the skeleton arrows hit it and we’re trying to get them out,” whispered one of the builders.  
Jason thought hard while the entire militia stared at him. They all put their trust and their lives in his hands, what could he do?  
“Who dares to challenge the mighty Al-Oks?” offered the ruler.  
“I do,” said Jason.  
“Step forward and state your name puny pretender,” bellowed Al-Oks.  
“My name is Jason Sparrow, and I will fight you,” said Jason stepping into the moonlight.  
“Very well, we will see how fast you fall,and just because you have spunk, I will grant you a fast death,” said the king.  
“Let’s see if you can put your emerald where your mouth is,” challenged Jason.  
The zombie king snarled, then charged. Jason could swear he saw his life flash before his eyes right before he brought his sword up to block. Al-Oks’s golden sword came down on Jason’s diamond sword. Jason almost crumpled under the weight, but he just pushed off the ground and jabbed at the zombies thigh. The king’s growl made Jason want to run away, but he knew he wasn’t just fighting for himself, he was fighting for all of Minecraft. He rolled to the right to avoid getting hit then came up and stabbed the king in the butt.  
“AAAHHH. YOU WILL DIE FOR THAT!” thundered Al-Oks.  
He swung at Jason, but missed. Jason had the advantage by being smaller and quicker, but he was getting tired. Small square beads of sweat rolled down his face, making his eyes sting. He saw someone flash their sword at him. He pulled away and backed up three steps.  
“Running away so soon? I’m not done with you yet!” growled Al-Oks.  
“Well then you’ll have to catch me, Fatty,” taunted Jason.  
“I’m not fat! Am I? I’ve been laying off the sweets lately, and I only have a few thousand carbs a day,” pouted the king as he stomped after Jason.  
When they got to the spot Jason wanted him in, he screamed, “Go!”  
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The TNT exploded as soon as it hit the king.  
“AAARRRGGGHHH!” yelled the zombie in pain, “You think...you can… kill me?”  
Al-Oks ran at Jason with his sword raised. Then, out of nowhere, Ce-Len stepped in front of Jason. He whispered something in Jason’s ear and then turned around and walked over to the zombie king. So surprised by what he was seeing, Al-Oks came to a halt and stared at Ce-Len.  
“For Minecraft. Al-Oks, King of the Zombies, Bringer of Doom, I hand over my essence willingly to you, hoping I will have a noble death for the good of Minecraft,” said Ce-Len as if he had practiced.  
“What are you saying puny traitor?” asked the injured king.  
Just then, Ce-Len seemed to fade away into a white dust-like substance, and it flowed straight into the zombie king. Al-Oks did nothing at first, but then turned to black dust and mixed with the white dust, then just disappeared. Everyone stared at where the two used to stand,monster and villager alike. Jason walked over and picked up Ce-Len’s sword. Then he put it into his inventory, and his face slowly contorted into rage.  
“FOR MINECRAFT AND CE-LEN!” he yelled and then charged.  
The rest of his army charged after him. When the two sides - monster and villager - clashed, they fought hard. It was the longest night of Jason’s life, and the hardest fight, but he was filled with rage. Jason could see Ci-Len and Ca-Len crying and fighting with more sadness and rage than anyone else. Slowly the armies on both sides were whittled down until Jason, Esau, Jack, Mark, Eve, Lucas, Ca-Len, Ci-Len, and a handful of villagers were fighting about sixty monsters. Originally there had been about three hundred monsters - not including their zombie friends - so sixty was a big improvement. Though there had also been quite a few more villagers, which made Jason even angrier. He would fight until every last one of these monsters was dead.  
Finally the monsters were all gone and the much smaller militia was very tired. Jason looked out and saw all the inventories littering the battle field. He couldn’t help but think that one of those once belonged to that farmer he had talked to earlier. Slowly he put his hand over his heart and then clenched it into a fist until his knuckles turned white. He looked around and saw everyone else doing it, with tears in their eyes for loved ones they would never see again.


	21. When Lightning Strikes

All the remaining villagers gathered in the middle of the field and took turns hugging each other. There were only ten villagers left, not counting the zombies, Jason, or his friends. Jason looked over and saw Esau walking toward him.  
“Well my friend, looks like the journey is finally over,” Esau said with relief.  
Suddenly, two zombies and a spider came rushing out of nowhere and surrounded him.  
“It certainly is for you,” said Ty,stepping out of the jungle.  
Ty walked up to Esau and thrust his sword into him, just as Esau killed the surrounding monsters. Esau crumpled to the ground and disappeared with a pop.   
“ESAU!” Jason yelled in rage.  
“Well, that was messy but at least it’s over with,” said Ty with no remorse.  
“YOU KILLED MY FRIEND!” screamed Jason, raising his sword.  
Storm clouds gathered in the sky above them and it started to rain. Jason charged toward Ty at full speed and raised his sword to the sky.His eyes turned completely electric blue, and lightning came out of the sky and arced off Jason’s sword straight at Ty. It hit him square in the chest and he flew backwards into a tree. Lightning sizzled around Jason and his nerves felt like they were on fire, suddenly it smelled like ozone all around him. A scared look spread across Ty’s face. Jason pointed his sword at Ty, and he flinched.  
“Jason, please don’t kill me, it was Leo’s idea, he said it was part of the prophecy,” pleaded Ty in terror. Jason raised his sword over his head, and then brought it down hard, right in front of Ty.  
“I’m nothing like you, I only kill in defence, not for pleasure, and you’re not worthy of a quick death,” said Jason.  
He picked Ty up by the arm and zapped him unconscious. Then Jason carried Ty over to his villager comrades. The storm went away, Jason’s normal blue eyes came back, the lightning around him shot back up into the sky, and it stopped smelling like ozone.  
“Whoa, Jason, remind me not to get on your bad side,” said Jack, astonished.  
“That was for Esau,” growled Jason.  
“I’m so sorry about Esau,” comforted Eve,giving Jason a hug.  
Mark came over and gave Jason a hug too, so did Jack, and Lucas, and all the other villagers too. They all stood in the middle of the field crying and hugging, with Ty unconscious at their feet.  
Later when they got back to the village, it seemed so quiet. Almost nobody was there except for the children who had stayed behind. Jason remembered walking through this very same part of the village with Esau only a while ago. A torrent of happy memories came back to him as he walked. That time Jason had gotten stuck between a cliff and a river, the time Esau had fallen down a canyon, once when they had raced through an entire biome without stopping. So many thoughts came back to Jason that just made him cry. Esau had been there for him, even when the world forgot about him, Esau had remembered him.   
Jason wiped away his tears and put Ty in an obsidian prison with bars for windows and an iron door with two guards in front of it.  
“If you escape, I will hunt you down and kill you myself,” snarled Jason. Then he turned, headed to his house, and went to bed. There was nothing else to do,no more monsters to fight. Just Leo and whatever plan he was cooking. Jason didn’t want to do anything but sit in his house and sulk. That was all anyone did for a week. Some morned family, some morned friends, some just sat and stared at the wall. Jason didn’t know what to do, but then he remembered he had the Key. What would he do with that though? He didn’t know what would happen next, but he had a bad feeling that the Key would play a big role in it.


	22. Shadow Master

It had been a month since the Battle for the Key had happened, and a lot more people had decided to move to their village. The Key now shot up through the center of the village where Jason had decided to put it. It seemed to draw people to it like magnets. No one dared touch it, but villagers would stand around staring at it for hours. It was really weird, but Jason didn't dwell on it.   
All of a sudden, a villager ran up to Jason tired and out of breath.  
“What’s wrong?” asked Jason, drawing his sword.  
“It’s Ty! He’s escaped. It must have happened last night. But nothing was moved or broken, the door was guarded all night, and we had his inventory emptied,” explained the villager, exasperated.  
Jason ran over to the cell and checked every inch of it. He opened the door and was thrown backwards. Ty appeared out of thin air and smiled, stepping out of the jail.  
“You people have held me here for a month and not once did you consider that I have powers!” raged Ty.   
He ran off with everyone right behind him. Then, a dark figure appeared in front of Ty, so suddenly that everyone stopped. Ty knelt in front of the being and started to sweat.  
“Master, please, I can explain! We didn’t win this time but we will next time! I promise I will not fail a second time,” pleaded Ty to the figure.  
“No, you will not fail me again. Leo will be the new leader, he will get the Void Armor and take the Key,” said the shadowy person in a raspy voice that sounded like gravel on stone.  
The strange person lifted Ty up and turned him into shadow. There was no other way to explain it. He just slowly melted into what looked like liquid shadow. The dark monster just sort of… absorbed it. Ty’s XP dropped to the ground and the figure turned towards Jason.  
“Do not think you have won anything, I will kill everyone you love and burn your world, then I will kill you. And when I am done with that, I will rule all the servers,” threatened the person, then he melted into shadow.  
“Jason,what was that?” asked Mark.  
“The first move toward a war. Put guards all around the Key. I don’t know who that is, but he’s trouble,” ordered Jason.   
The shadow came back three more times that week and gave the villagers a chance to back down and hand over the Key. Each time they refused, but every time they did, the shadow took something from the village; the whole flock of sheep, a herd of cows, and the coop of chickens. Jason was getting tired of it,so he called his friends over.  
“What do you think the Void Armor is?” he questioned.  
“I don’t know, but it sounds like he really wants it,” guessed Eve.  
“Ya, and he’s willing to kill to get it,” said Mark.  
“Maybe we should try to get it,” suggested Jack.  
Jason started looking through books in his house.Finally he found what he was looking for.  
“Here, it has been a legend passed down for generations. It says here ‘The Void Armor is part of a trilogy of things. The Void Armor is armor crafted from the scales of the Ender Dragon. Then there is the Shield of Shadows which is made from the skin of the first enderman. Last is the Sword of Lava, made in the Nether from the hottest lava fall and cooled in The River of Blood. These three things make any being unstoppable…’” read Jason.  
“What is The River of Blood?” asked Mark.  
“It is the river where Notch led the villagers in a battle against the monsters and banished many of them to the Nether,” replied Lucas.  
“Yes, it is said to be full of so much XP that one drop of it can enchant enough armor for an army,” said Jason wistfully.  
“And I suppose we have to get these before shadow dude does?” guessed Jack.  
“Well… the different pieces are scattered across different server planes,” said Jason.  
Just then someone knocked on Jason’s front door, “Um, sir, the shadow is here again. He wants us to surrender like usual.”  
Jason ran outside to see that the shadow was standing under a tree.  
“We know what you’re after now! Who are you?” screamed Jason.  
The shadow stepped into the light and everyone saw that he looked just like Herobrine, but instead of white eyes,he had black eyes.  
“I... am... Kyrobrine,” said the man calmly.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Please comment. Thanks for reading!


End file.
